The Legend Of Naruto
by F u R o X
Summary: What If the Kyuubi wasn't an evil Demon? What if it repented for what happened to Naruto and offered to train him? Powerful/Bloodline Naruto Naruto/Fem. Kyuubi Harem. Rated M for Gore and future lemons Bleach elements used, NO characters
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I Don't own Naruto.

**Warnings:** Violence, Swearing and later Lemons.

**Chapter 1**

**Konohagakure No Sato**

Uzumaki Naruto was excited. Today was the day he would start at the ninja academy and take the first step towards his goal of becoming Hokage. Sarutobi Hizuren the current Hokage of Konoha had filled his forms and signed as his guardian as Naruto was an orphan. Naruto was truly thankful that his Ojii-san had allowed him entry into the academy. For as long as he could remember the villagers seemed to treat him with indifference, contempt and sometimes hatred. He couldn't understand what he had done to warrant such behaviour towards himself. He had stayed up many a night thinking about his life and wondering if it would eventually get better. Shaking his head of his morose thoughts he got ready to go the academy.

He was the first one to arrive at the academy and walking towards the end of the class, took a seat near the window. People began to come in, a few threw curious glances at him but Naruto was busy staring out the window. Soon the teacher came in and asked the class to settle down. He began to take roll call. . .

"Uzumaki . . ._Naruto" _the teacher finished calling his name with a sneer plastered on his face.

'_Great, another one. . .'_ Thought Naruto.

"Here" he replied in a monotone.

Throughout the rest of the day Naruto noticed the trend continue with each and every teacher of the class. He was getting totally frustrated by the attitude of the teachers. But he knew that he could do nothing about it.

'_This is going to be a long 5 years. . .' _he mused.

**Time Skip – 6 Months**

Over the past six months Naruto had tried very hard to work hard and excel in his studies, he would complete the assigned work, would try to answer questions in class , but the teachers always said that he had failed. He couldn't understand why he was treated thus. He had hoped that by working hard he would be able to earn the respect of his teachers and be treated fairly at the very least.

Although he was sure that he got every question right on the exam he had barely scraped through and the Rookie Of the Year title had gone to Uchiha Sasuke.

After another day at the academy Naruto was walking towards his apartment. He passed the village park on his way and gazed longingly at the happily smiling kids playing with their friends, parents encouraging their kids to ride a slide or a swing. He felt his throat constrict and averted his gaze and walked resolutely away from the park. It was not good to get upset over things that cannto be changed, he told himself. But, he truly longed for a friend.

He had gone to see the Hokage after a week of classes, but when he arrived at the tower he saw that there were several ninja in his office and there was someone shouting. His Ojii-san truly looked tired and Naruto didn't have the heart to pile up his problems with is own. He was truly considering withdrawing from the academy. The treatment at the hands of his teachers hadn't improved and he wasn't able to make any friends. Sure there were some acquaintances but he couldn't call them friends.

Another odd problem that he had been having lately was his dreams. They always started with his standing in a long hallway surrounded with pipes and ended at a massive cage that had the Kanji for Seal on it. He could always hear someone call out his name from behind the cage, but whenever he used to approach the cage the whole area would glow a pulsing white and he would wake up in a cold sweat. He always thought that he could hear someone sobbing whenever he woke up, it tore at his heart that he was causing someone pain, someone that seemed to care for him, but he unable to do anything about it.

**Time Skip - That Night**

After having a few cups of instant Ramen as dinner. Naruto took out a scroll that he had _acquired _from the library in which only 3rd Year academy students were allowed to enter. It was a scroll that detailed the method that Ninjas used to unlock their chakra for access. Chakra, Naruto realized was the most important thing for a Ninja, without it they were simple Martial Artists. Chakra allowed Ninjas to perform feats that were beyond imagination. Predictably, Naruto couldn't wait to access his. Naruto read through the scroll twice before making sure that he had the facts right.

He sat down on his bed and began to meditate, he quickly got bored doing it and let his mind wander. He remembered the cold, hateful stares. The vindictive eyes cursing him, shouting at him silently. He remembered the silent sobbing that he would hear when he woke up from one of his weird dreams.

Naruto was suddenly filled with determination, determination to change the way people saw him, to earn their respect to prove to them that he was worthy of their respect, but even this determination paled in comparison to the need he felt to find out who was the person who cared enough to weep for him.

Naruto returned to the exercise with a new wind. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Searching for the feeling described in the book, it said that it would be near the navel, a feeling of power and lightedness. He concentrated hard, his eyes were closed so he never noticed the complex seal structure that suddenly appeared on his stomach. Naruto suddenly felt a power, a huge power that was within his grasp, all that he had to do was reach for it. He extended a mental hand towards it and sighed as he opened his eyes. What he saw in front of him shocked him to the very core.

Chakra. . . _his own _Chakra surrounded him, black streams of energy going outwards from his body. . . Chakra that could be seen with the naked eye. Naruto tilted his head in confusion, the scroll never mentioned such a thing happening. He however liked the feeling of it and tried his best to bring out as much of it as possible. A huge shockwave of chakra exploded out of him utterly destroying his bedroom. Naruto saw the destruction around him, amazed that he could do such a thing.

"Heh . . . looks like I overdid it . . . a . . . bit" he said and promptly passed out.

**Naruto's Mindscape**

Naruto regained consciousness and looked around at his surroundings, he was in the same hallway that he saw when he used to fall asleep. There was a difference now however, the walls seemed to be pulsing with the same shade of black that he had seen earlier. He walked the now familiar path towards where the cage was. He arrived at the hallway leading to the cage and the previously muted sounds that he could hear were heard clearly by him.

"**Naruto-kun**"

The voice that he heard was distinctly female and was laced with an underlying of unimaginable power.

Naruto hurried his footsteps and came upon a sight that filled him with awe. There behind the cage with the Seal on it was the biggest fox that he had ever seen. A fox with nine tails. Behind the cage was the famed Kyuubi No Kitsune.

"**Please don't be afraid of me Naruto-kun**" Kyuubi said.

"You're the . . . Kyuubi . . .aren't you?" Naruto asked in a shaky voice.

"**Yes, I am**" Kyuubi replied.

"Everyone believes that you were defeated by the Yondaime Hokage approximately sev. . .en . . . years . . . ago" Naruto said trailing off at the end, gaining confidence as he saw that Kyuubi didn't immediately attack him.

Naruto had a weird expression on his face, as if he was trying to figure out something. . . connecting dots with the information that he had received. He paced in front of the cage, muttering so low that even Kyuubi with her enhanced hearing could not hear. Kyuubi's luminous red eyes followed Naruto's path, darting from one place to another.

Finally he stopped and stared at the Kyuubi. His gaze unnerved Kyuubi to no end. Those eyes of his were far too intelligent, too mature to belong to a child. But looking back at his life, she was not surprised.

"He sealed you within me" Naruto declared.

Kyuubi was astonished, he was able to glean that from just meeting her. Hell, she had barely spoken two sentences to him and he figured all that out just by staring at her.

"**Got it in one Naruto-kun**"

"You aren't as evil as most demons are said to be. . ." Naruto was back to staring at her.

"Were you the one who used to call out to me in my dreams? Were you the one I heard . . . crying. . . for me?" Naruto said softly. Kyuubi had to strain herself to hear the last part.

"**Please come inside the cage Naruto-kun. I promise that I won't harm you**."Kyuubi said her voice cracking slightly barely able to hold back her tears.

Naruto nodded his head slightly. But as he began moving towards the cage he realized that it would be physically impossible for him to fit in the cage that already housed the humongous Kyuubi No Kitsune. He paused right outside the cage bars. Kyuubi sensing his problem quickly transformed into her human form.

When the flash associated with her transformation died down. There, in place of the Kyuubi was a girl of around Naruto's age. Her eyes remained the same a beautiful shade of red. She was a tad bit shorter than Naruto, had red hair that went up to her mid back. Her hair was tied in a ponytail of sorts with what seemed to be a gold ornament. She was wearing a red kimono and Geta sandals.

"**You can come in now Naruto-kun**" Kyuubi said, her voice laced with emotion.

Naruto entered the cage and walked up to Kyuubi. She patted the floor next to her and Naruto sat down beside her.

"**There are a lot of things you don't know Naruto-kun. It would be best if I tell you how exactly how I was sealed into you. . ."**

Saying that Kyuubi started her tale . She told him how she was sealed within his mother Kushina Uzumaki before him, how she had been forcefully extracted from Kushina when she went into labour. How Uchiha Madara, one of the founders of Konoha had taken control over her using his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. How she was forced to attack him when his parents had tried to seal her within him. How she had broken through the effects of the Sharingan just before she was going to impale Naruto's parents that had been ready to sacrifice their lives to save him. How Madara, angry that the Kyuubi was no longer under his control had killed Kushina and forced the Yondaime to fight him. How the Yondaime had managed to drive off Madara with assistance from Kyuubi. How he had performed the Shiki Fuin, sacrificed his soul to the Shinigami and asked Kyuubi to always be there for his son, to train him and make him into a formidable ninja.

By the time that the tale had reached its conclusion both Naruto and Kyuubi had tears streaming down their faces and were leaning on each other for physical as well as emotional support.

"**Please believe me Naruto-kun. . . I tried my best to fight him but he was too elusive and I was severely weakened after fighting the whole of Konoha**" Kyuubi said with her head hanging down in shame.

"It wasn't you fault Kyuubi-chan" Naruto said holding her chin in his hand and lifting her face up to meet his.

Kyuubi blushed faintly at the endearment and gazed into his eyes to search for his true feelings. She saw only honesty, sympathy and determination shining through.

"Can you please tell me about my parents. . ."Naruto asked with longing clear on his face.

Kyuubi couldn't resist and told him everything that she knew about Kushina and for the time that she had known him Minato Namikaze.

After a few hours of storytelling Naruto asked Kyuubi if she was going to train him to be a great Ninja just like his parents.

"**Of course Naruto-kun, I will do everything that is within my power to make sure that you will be the strongest Ninja in the Elemental Nations. You need to gain power fast in order to survive in the Ninja world after all.**" Kyuubi said nodding her head emphatically.

"**Before I get into you training schedule, I need to ask you something. . . Do you know what a Bloodline Limit is?**" Kyuubi asked.

Naruto tilted his head slightly and began wracking his head for all the information that he had come across regarding Bloodlines.

"They have something to do with special powers and characteristics of a person . . . usually clans isn't it?" Naruto asked.

Kyuubi was again impressed by Naruto's knowledge.

"**You surprise me with your knowledge Naruto-kun. You are indeed correct, Bloodlines basically are Clan specific techniques that cannot be performed by another person outside the clan. Now, Bloodlines are of three types. . . Chakra type which alters your chakra such that you will be able to perform techniques that cannot be replicated without utilizing the special type of chakra. The First Hokage had a Chakra type bloodline. Second is the Body type, in which the bloodline alters the physical body of the wielder itself, it may be either a transformation or a passive one such as regeneration. The Akimichi clan of Konoha are a prime example of this. The last type is a Bloodline that alters the eyes and gives the user powers based on the type of Doujutsu that they have. The Uchiha and the Hyuuga clan of Konoha have their respective Eyes called as the Sharingan and the Byakugan. Do you understand so far Naruto-kun?**"

". . . Yeah"

"**Besides Bloodline Limits certain Bijuu. . . that's me. . . also can provide their containers with some powers that others view as a Bloodline. Now Naruto-kun your situation is something that hasn't **_**ever **_**occurred in the Elemental Nations. You Naruto-kun are going to be the first Ninja ever to have all three types of Bloodlines within you. . .**" Kyuubi said smirking slightly at the awed expression on Naruto's face.

"But . . .But . . . how is that possible?"Naruto asked with a confused expression on his face.

"**You have inherited two bloodlines from your parents. Your father had a bloodline that was related to the body. . . you will have to ask the Hokage about it as I am not too sure abut what it did exactly, but it allowed him tremendous stamina and exceptional muscle density. Thankfully I know all about your mother's Bloodline. It was called as the ****Soul Blade. It was a chakra based Bloodline that allowed her to manifest a sword that was a reflection of her soul. In addition to that, her chakra being more dense than normal allowed her to perform techniques that hadn't been seen for thousands of years. I remember the training that she had gone through and we will begin doing that as soon as you talk to the Hokage."** Kyuubi said.

"But I still don't have a Doujutsu. . ." Naruto pointed out.

"**This is where I come in. . .you see, unlike your mother, who had already spent some time as a ninja before she was able to contact me, your chakra coils are just now developing, you will be receiving **_**MY**_** form of the Sharingan. I will be able to implant it into your body using my Chakra**." Kyuubi said looking quite proud of herself.

"What do you mean _your _Sharingan?" Naruto asked.

"**It was me who had given the Sharingan to the human Ninjas in the first place, most of the Bloodlines found today are due to Demons. . . so in a way I am responsible for the death of your parents . . .Madara abused his power to manipulate me and I ended up struck down by my own blade. . . twice**"

Kyuubi seemed to shrink down on herself, brought her knees closer to her body and hung her head. Naruto didn't like to see her act in such a way, he truly believed that there was no reason for her to feel guilty over something that was clearly not her fault. He placed all the blame of the events that transpired that night on Uchiha Madara. He decided then and there that he would have justice and make Madara pay for all the crimes that he had committed against Konoha and his family.

Kyuubi was startled out of her morose thoughts when she felt a hand trying to pry her hand apart. She looked up to see that Naruto was kneeling down in front of her, his eyes filled with determination.

"None of it was your fault Kyuubi-chan, and for what it's worth I don't blame you even a tiny little bit for that night"

Kyuubi stared into his eyes, searching for a tiny bit of deception any hint that this was not how he truly felt. The only thing shining in his eyes were compassion and honesty. Kyuubi couldn't handle it anymore , she flung herself at him and began crying hysterically onto his shoulder. To his credit, Naruto just held her close and let her cry , his own tears soon joined in.

They held onto each other for a long time, drawing comfort from each other. Naruto was happy that he finally found someone that he could call a friend. Someone that would acknowledge him, support him and be there for him in general.

Kyuubi was happy that she had finally gotten through to Kushina's son. She had promised herself long ago that she would be there for him , what her role was supposed to be in his life she didn't know but she knew that she needed to teach him to protect himself. She was appalled at his treatment by the hands of the villagers. She had vowed that she would make them pay, whether directly or indirectly.

"So what do we do now Kyuubi-chan?" Naruto said while brushing off her tears.

"**First I will have to implant the Sharingan and after that we begin your training.**" Kyuubi replied blushing at the contact.

"**It would be best if you went to sleep for the implant Naruto-kun, it will hurt for a while. After all it's not just the eyes that need to change, I am going to alter your forming chakra pathways so that you can use the Sharingan to it's full capacity.**" Kyuubi said as she closed her eyes and sent out her chakra in short bursts into the still forming Chakra Pathways and into the walls surrounding them.

Naruto got up and walked away from the cage, with one last look at her Naruto fell into a deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him.

**Chapter 2**

Hizuren Sarutobi the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, the village considered to be the strongest of the Five Hidden Villages, was currently cursing his long time enemy, paperwork. The damn thing seemed to multiply itself over time. Finished with reading the current paper on tax, he sighed, lit his trusty pipe and left his mind to wander. As was often the case, his mind wandered to Naruto Uzumaki, the container of the Kyuubi No Kitsune. He wondered how he was doing, it had been approximately six months since he had entered the academy. The boy had the potential to be one of the strongest Ninja of Konoha, after all he _was _the heir to two Bloodline. Kushina was never forthcoming about her Bloodline but was one of the best ANBU that had served under Konoha. Whether this had to do with her Bloodline or her sheer hard work, he did not know.

He was distracted out of his thoughts when he felt someone hurrying towards him. His door burst open and a Dog masked ANBU entered his office.

"Hokage-sama, there is someone at Naruto's apartment. We have detected an unknown chakra signature in the area Tenzo is there at the moment. Sarutobi immediately signalled Inu  
( Dog ) to follow him and quickly performed a Leaf Sunshin ( Teleportation ) towards Naruto's apartment.

The sight that greeted him left him flabbergasted. Naruto's whole apartment looked as if a tornado had blown through it. And in the centre of it all was Naruto, seemingly asleep. Tenzo was there surveying the apartment and searching for clues, residual chakra, burn marks etc.

"Tenzo report!" Sarutobi ordered authoritatively.

"This looks as an attack. . . but the chakra signature matches Uzumaki-san's. . . but that would mean that he has successfully accessed his chakra. The chaos is a direct result of the event." Tenzo bowed slightly indicating that he was done with his report.

Sarutobi closed his eyes for a moment.

"Inu take Naruto to the ANBU hospital. Stay with him until further notice. I will meet you in the morning. Tenzo return to your post. Go!"

Inu picked up Naruto, put him on his back and jumped out the window.

Sarutobi was wracked with a sudden sense of guilt. He had decided against telling Naruto that he had a Godmother. His old student, Senju Tsunade was named as the Godmother of young Naruto as soon as he was born. After the Kyuubi attack he had lied to her and said that Naruto was killed during the Sealing process. He had known that Tsunade would not consent to stay in the village and would take Naruto away from the village. Sarutobi couldn't allow that, Naruto would give pause to other countries that would otherwise attack the village due to its low strength. So he had put aside his emotions and acted in the best interests of the village, unknowingly damning a young orphaned boy to a horrible childhood.

'Maybe it's time that she was told the truth.'

Looking around at the apartment, a single thought crossed his mind

'I'm getting too old for this shit'.

**Timeskip – The next Morning**

Naruto woke up groggily, yawned , stretched , looked around at his room and froze. All that he saw was white. No colours whatsoever. This definitely was not his room. He began panicking slightly, and got up with a jerk. His head was throbbing in pain.

"**Calm down Naruto-kun**" said a voice in his head.

"Kyuubi-chan?"

Naruto looked around, swivelling his head from one direction to other trying to search for her.

"**Yes. I'm talking in your mind Naruto-kun. Just think what you want to speak to me**."

'_I'm_ _so glad that it wasn't a dream. I don't think I would have been able to handle the disappointment._'

" **I'm never going to leave you Naruto-kun**."

Before Naruto could reply, his attention was drawn towards a corner of the room. He felt as if he were being watched. He began staring his, by now, patented stare at the corner. Sometime later he saw as the air seemed to shimmer for a moment before a teenage boy stood in front of him. He was dressed in a standard ANBU outfit with a red scarf around his neck that hung up to his mid back. He was wearing a Dog mask.

"How did you know I was there?" he asked and then he seemed to realize something shook his head and asked, "How are you feeling? Do you remember what happened?"

Naruto just stared at him and said in a soft voice "I need to speak to Hokage-sama."

Saying that, Naruto slept back in his bed and turned his back towards him.

'_So Kyuubi-chan, did it work?"_

"**Did what work, Naruto-kun?**" Kyuubi replied teasingly.

'_You know, the Sharingan implant'_ Naruto whined.

Kyuubi giggled. '_**Naruto-kun is so cute. . .wait. . .what?**_'

"**Yes the implant worked perfectly . . . and I was even able to enhance you original bloodlines as well. Your Father's Bloodline will grant you regeneration as well as what it was capable of doing earlier. There was not much left to enhance in your Mother's Bloodline but I still fed it my power so there might be some changes. But we'll get to that later. How are you feeling**?"

'_My whole body aches, especially my joints. And my head is throbbing like hell._'

"**Don't worry I'm sure you will feel better in a few hours. Now remember Naruto-kun you cannot tell anyone about me. They wouldn't understand and would think that I am somehow influencing your thoughts and have taken over your body.**"

'_You don't deserve to be treated like this Kyuubi-chan'_

"**It doesn't matter what the villagers think of me. As long as you are willing to put up with me I will be satisfied.**"

' _I don't put up with you Kyuubi-chan. I quite like your company, as short as it has been.'_

"**Thank You, Naruto-kun.**"

'_So then I just have to ask Ojii-san about my parents, and to get access to their mansion correct?'_

"**Yes Naruto-kun. Now if you don't mind I need to catch up with my sleep, I'm exhausted after yesterday's activities. But don't hesitate to wake me up if you need help.**"

'_Sure Kyuubi-chan , sleep tight.'_

Naruto let his mind wander about inconsequent things, and eventually fell asleep as well.

Naruto slept the whole day and through the night. When he woke up the next day he saw that he was still in the hospital. He looked around and saw the Hokage smiling down at him.

"Good morning Naruto-kun. How are you feeling today?" Sarutobi asked a kind smile on his face.

"M'fine. . ." Naruto mumbled.

"Is there something troubling you?" he asked.

"I found out about my parents. . . you lied to me Ojii-san" Naruto said with an accusatory glance.

"H-How did you find out?" Sarutobi asked in a shocked voice.

"I saw my birth certificate in the trash outside your office. . ."

"That's impossible."

Naruto shrugged. "It doesn't matter, you have to tell me about my parents Ojii-san. You owe me."

"Tell me what you know Naruto-kun."

"I know that the Yondaime was my dad and my mother's name was Kushina Uzumaki, ANBU commander and also known as the Red Death of Konoha" Naruto said staring at the Sandaime.

" I guess that I don't have any other choice. Yes Naruto, I lied to you about your parents because they were both very famous and powerful people. Over their respective careers as a Ninja they had accumulated a lot of enemies. If it were to get out that you were their legacy, you would be assassinated" Sarutobi stated flatly.

Sarutobi knew that he was being harsh with his words but, now that he knew there was no sugar coating the truth. Either he would grow past it and continue their legacy or he would crumble under the pressure. Sarutobi genuinely hoped that Naruto would be able to rise up against the challenge.

"Can you tell me about my father's Bloodline?" Naruto asked with excitement rolling off him in waves.

Sarutobi cursed his bad luck, leave it up to Naruto to find out about one of the important village secrets in a trashcan.

"All the information and belongings of your parents it sealed up at their home. I think that it is time that you moved out of the apartment eh?" Sarutobi asked ruffling his hair.

"Thank You Ojii-san" Naruto exclaimed.

**Timeskip – Two days**

Naruto stood in front of the house that he was supposed to grow up in. It was located quite a ways inside the forest behind the Hokage Mountain. The Sandaime had brought him here in the morning and had left him alone to enter the house. It was not a mansion as Kyuubi had described it, it was just a two storied apartment with 4 bedrooms with attached baths , a kitchen , a Jutsu Library , and an outdoor Onsen.

When he had asked Kyuubi where he was supposed to train, Kyuubi had refused to tell him, stating that she wanted to surprise him.

Later that night Naruto had finally found information on his father's Bloodline in the Library. It didn't have a specific name as it didn't show any abnormal transformations or traits. But what it did was something that Naruto was drooling over. It basically allowed his body to never reach an upper cap on his power. While normal Ninjas reach a point where they had reached their peak physical condition and had to make a choice between either speed or strength in battle, his bloodline would allow him to train both. It altered the density of his muscles, making them stronger but not increasing their weight by much.

"**That's amazing Naruto-kun, now I have no doubt that along with my regenerative abilities you will be able to become strong in a very short time, by the time you leave the academy you will definitely be able to hold you own against most Jounin.**"

'_That's amazing Kyuubi-chan. Do you really think that it's possible?'_

"**Don't ever doubt yourself Naruto-kun.**" Kyuubi said fiercely. "**Believe in yourself, I am not saying that you won't make any mistakes, but I will help you push past them and learn from them.**"

Naruto was filled with determination, to grow strong , to defeat anyone who opposes him , and to serve justice to Uchiha Madara.

**Timeskip – 6 Months**

Naruto was currently training in the secret training room that was below the apartment. He now understood why Kyuubi referred to his house as a mansion. The place was huge. It was under the apartment, underground. It had its entrance disguised as a foot mat, and opened outwards on applying pressure correctly. The room was more than sixty four square miles in area. There were trees, a lake and even a huge waterfall. The whole room was covered in seals. The seals served the dual purpose of strengthening the cavern and also to mask chakra usage. The lake was connected to the waterfall and also had seals that kept the water fresh.

For the past six months Naruto after coming home from another useless day at the academy, would begin his training that Kyuubi-chan had outlined for him. She had told him at the beginning of his training that his chakra pathways would take at the very least five months to stabilize and construct completely. It was due to his Bloodline that he had to wait for such a long time, add the fact that Kyuubi had added her own Chakra to the mix, she didn't want to take any chances. Naruto was disappointed that he would not be able to learn any awesome Jutsu. But Kyuubi had said that he would need to train his body before anything else. So he had done so. Everyday Naruto would run for approximately ten miles at a sprint and then perform stretches, sit-ups and other toning exercises. Then he would practice his punches and kicks on a tree. Although Naruto couldn't be sure he was certain that he was the strongest in his class in terms of sheer physical strength. Even Chouji who belonged to the Akimichi clan was a little weaker than him. His reflexes were top notch, but he had no way of estimating his speed.

Naruto was anxious to get home after today's class. He would begin using his chakra today and really start training. It was very difficult not to use his chakra, but Kyuubi was always able to keep him in check.

'_Kyuubi-chan I'm home now'_ Naruto thought as he walked into his apartment.

"**I know Naruto-kun. So are you excited?**"

'_You bet I am. I have been waiting since forever to use my chakra.'_

"**Now listen carefully Naruto-kun. Before you manifest your own sword, you need to build up your control and your reserves. It will help you to gain a powerful sword, since it is directly related to you own strength, the more powerful you are, the more powerful the sword."**

'_So I need to be an adult to get maximum benefits?'_ Naruto asked unable to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"**No Naruto-kun, from what I know, your Mother said that not many people from her clan were able to gain their sword. It can only be done before you reach the age of ten. After that your Bloodline remains dormant throughout your life and you become a carrier for your bloodline.**"

'_So I only have two years to get as strong as possible and get my sword?_' Naruto asked

"**Yes , although the process of gaining your sword itself will take about two months.**"

'_So what are we waiting for? Lets get started.'_

"**Finish your regular training first, we aren't skipping things we are just adding on to them.**"

Naruto groaned.

'_You are so mean to me Kyuubi-chan.'_

Kyuubi giggled.

After completing his exercises Naruto took a bath in the lake and putting on some clothes he went to a clearing which had grass on it and was surrounded by trees. He sat down in a meditative position and concentrated, he tried to bring out the same feeling that he had felt nearly six months ago. He found it, taking considerably less time that the last time he tried it. Naruto couldn't be sure but he felt that it was much stronger than last time though. Much more stronger. He tried bringing it out like last time and found that it was practically impossible to do. No matter how much he concentrated, he couldn't do it.

"**Stop trying to bring it out Naruto-kun. Calm yourself down and try to sense your power, hear it , try to feel it flow throughout your body**." Kyuubi said in a soft and hypnotizing voice.

Naruto controlled his breathing , focusing simply on Kyuubi's voice.

He could feel it. His chakra flowing throughout his body, inside his muscles, his head , everywhere.

Naruto didn't know how long he sat there, but by the time he was done it was already dark inside the training room.

"**How do you feel Naruto-kun?"** Kyuubi asked softly.

'_I feel at great Kyuubi-chan, it's an amazing feeling.' _Naruto replied softly.

"**Congratulations Naruto-kun your Chakra Pathways have been fully developed. I can finally start teaching you."** Kyuubi said enthusiastically.

"**Now then, there is a simple way for you to learn Jutsu , practice your Chakra Control , and catch up on your reading , learning Taijutsu stances and anything related to memory while simultaneously working on your body. It will speed up the process of learning drastically.**" Kyuubi said smugly.

'_How is that possible Kyuubi-chan?'_

"**I am going to teach you a Kinjutsu ( **Forbidden Technique** ) known as ****Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**** ( **ShadowClone Technique** ). It creates solid clones instead of the normal illusions that are taught at the academy."**

'_What do you mean by solid clones Kyuubi-chan?'_

"**These clones can interact with the environment, can be used as labour, for sparring and practicing Taijutsu and basically anything that you want them to do."**

'_So how are they supposed to help with my training?'_

"**Ah . . . now that is something that you need to experience on your own to understand."**

'_Let's get started.'_

"**Now Naruto-kun come inside your mindscape and I will show you how to do the technique"**

Naruto concentrated and in no time was standing in the same corridor that he had been visiting for the past six months. The pipes that were present now were solid looking and had a dark blue almost black tint to it. The walls were a brilliant white, something that Naruto was still uncomfortable with, it reminded him too much of a hospital.

He walked towards the cage and smiled slightly at seeing Kyuubi laying on the grass just staring at him with a soft smile on her face. Naruto had changed the interior of the cage to resemble his apartment, including the training room.

Naruto walked up to Kyuubi and held out his hand to her. Kyuubi smiled up at him , took his hand and they started to walk towards the training room. When they reached the room Kyuubi explained to him the mechanics of the Jutsu and showed him the single hand seal required for it.

Naruto began practicing the technique and after an hour was confident that he could perform the technique in controlled circumstances.

Naruto who was panting slightly having exhausted himself trying to learn the Kage Bunshin.

Kyuubi was observing his progress and was feeling quite proud of the blonde. He had managed to learn a Jounin level technique in a very short time. He was definitely a genius.

"**Looks like you have a firm grasp on the technique. Return to the apartment and try it out in the real world."**

Naruto nodded , walked up to Kyuubi , hugged her and walked away waving at her, saying _'See you later tonight Kyuubi-chan.'_

Kyuubi just stared after him her face tomato red. She was now certain that she had definitely fallen for her container. She had been feeling funny in his presence ever since she met him and she could now say that she loved him with absolute certainty. Kyuubi shook her head and banished such thoughts, after all her Naru-kun was nowhere near ready to handle a relationship, but she would be damned if she didn't push for it.

Naruto opened his eyes and found himself in his favourite clearing. He got up and brought his hands in a single seal and muttered "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

The clearing was surrounded by smoke and suddenly Naruto was surrounded by nearly two hundred clones.

"Alright! Listen up, I need ten of you to go to the library and read through this year's academy books. Fifty of you go and start studying sealing, the rest of you do the leaf balancing exercise."

Several clones nodded in his direction and began working. In the mean time Naruto was going through the Katas for his Taijutsu style, Shadow Fist. It was a style that preferred speed over power and consisted primarily of redirecting attacks and counterattacking. In its advanced form it had many forms and techniques that used pressure and vacuum in order to inflict damage onto his opponents. It was difficult to master, as it required the user to remain calm in order to attack successfully. Naruto had a lot of trouble remaining calm at first; he had always been hyperactive and full of energy. But a few long sessions of training calmed him down considerably. Now that he was beginning to learn how to use chakra, he would be able to use Fuuinjutsu (Sealing Arts) to help with his training. He had read his father's journal about his life and had come across many interesting ideas that his father had. He particularly liked the idea of a Resistance Seal and also a Chakra Seal.

The Resistance Seal was designed to offer resistance to every movement that the user made. It was a very effective method of training the body. They were much better than training using weights as the weights generally only developed only one aspect and didn't offer overall development. With the resistance seal he would not only be training his strength and speed, but also his reflexes and response time. The downside of using the seal was the fact that it used up very large amounts of chakra. Kyuubi had said that he had more than enough chakra to power the seal. The Chakra Seal was similar to the Resistance Seal that it limited the Chakra available to the user. The extra Chakra was redirected to power the seal itself.

Naruto planned on applying the Seals on his body tomorrow. He had been reading up on them and practicing the seal design on a dummy for nearly two months. With the help of his Clones he was confident that it would work.

As the clones were practicing floating leaves he continued with his Katas. After completing his set, he created a few clones and started his spar. He quickly realized two facts, while the Clones were not as fast or as strong as him, their numbers compensated for that fact wonderfully. He was quickly overwhelmed and was being smacked around all over the place.

"Right . . . no sparring against multiple Clones yet." Naruto wheezed.

His clones smirked against him and Naruto promptly dispelled them. He reviewed his fight and tried to discern any faults in his fighting style. This was very difficult as he was reviewing his own mistakes and it was hard to see yourself making them.

Several hours later, after Naruto had dispelled the clones in groups of twenty, he went up to his apartment and started cooking dinner. He didn't use a clone to do this as it was during this time that he reviewed the day past and made plans for the next day. He was supposed to start a new year at the academy tomorrow and would be changing classes. He had never really made any friends in his class this past year, and although he was not alone anymore he still wanted some friends. He just hoped that he wouldn't have to share classes with the emo Uchiha anymore. Naruto was sick and tired of his superiority complex, granted that the Uchiha was much better than others his age but Naruto was sure that he could beat him, no sweat. Still Naruto refrained from doing so as he understood that beating 'The Last True Uchiha' would only attract attention towards him. The villagers practically worshipped the ground that the Uchiha walked on.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him.

**Chapter 3**

Naruto woke up at five o'clock in the morning and got out of his bed. The previous night he and Kyuubi had gone over the academy Jutsus that he had read about in the Library. Although not of much use in the way of fighting except for the Substitution Technique (Kawamiri), the Transformation (Henge), would help with his shopping and when he was walking in the village. It wouldn't fool many of the Jounins and skilled Chunins, but they never really hated him all that much to begin with. He would now be able to buy his supplies in the village without being harassed. As Kyuubi expected, even with his Chakra Control exercises, Naruto simply had too much chakra to create an Illusionary Clone. Kyuubi had said that no matter how good he got with his control, some lower ranked Jutsus would always be out of his reach due to the potency of his Chakra.

He showered and put on some underwear. Then he created some Clones and lay down on the bed. The Clones picked up his Sealing supplies and started applying the Resistance Seal on him. The application of the seal took nearly an hour to complete, and on completion, Naruto had to let the Seal Ink soak into his skin properly and dry. An hour later his Clones applied the Chakra seal on him as well. The seals were made of a special ink that used the blood of the user and would fade into the skin when dried. Naruto didn't activate the seals as he had to start a new class at the academy today. However he did activate the chakra seal. As soon as he activated the seal he felt as if all his power was sucked out of him at once, he felt more tired than he had ever felt in his life. Knowing that this feeling would pass, and he would have to get used to it, he got ready for the academy. He wore a simple black t-shirt with blue shorts that had three thin vertical orange stripes on the sides. He was also wearing black Ninja sandals that were given to him as a gift by his Ojii-san.

Naruto walked down the street, ignoring everyone else. He would generally leave as soon as he got up, in order to avoid the crowd. He would then practice in the academy training grounds and would stop well before anyone would show up. Today however, he was subjected to the usual harsh glares and spiteful comments.

"Um. . . excuse me."

A voice startled Naruto and he looked up to see a girl near his own age standing in front of him. The first thing that he notices about her was her hair. It was a light red colour and was extremely long, it reached to her hips and was tied in a ponytail. She was dressed in a simple blue coloured dress that ended at her knees. She was smiling slightly at him. She had emerald green eyes. Naruto immediately noticed that her eyes didn't hold the same hatred and distrust that Naruto associated with the younger generation. That earned her a few points in his book.

"How may I help you?" Naruto asked politely.

"Do you know where the Ninja Academy is?" she asked.

Before Naruto could reply, an Uchiha, part of the police force of Konoha stepped in between them.

"Get lost scum!, before I arrest you for harassment." he shouted at him.

The girl tried to speak up in his defence, but quietened down when she noticed him shake his head a little.

Naruto glared at the Uchiha, careful not to leak out his Killing Intent (KI).

Naruto just walked past him and continued on his way to the academy.

'_I wonder who she was . . .'_

Naruto entered the academy and proceeded towards the board with the new classes. He found his name and walked directly to the class. He was feeling tired after applying the Chakra Seal and promptly laid his head on the desk and slept.

Naruto woke up when he sensed that there was someone entering the room. The two years that he had spent on the streets had given him acute senses that were further refined by his training. He looked up to see a Ninja come in who was garbed in a standard Chunin of Konoha uniform. He had black hair that was tied in a ponytail, dark black eyes and a scar across the bridge of his nose. Naruto looked away as soon as he noticed that he was about to look up at him, and closed his eyes, remaining alert.

Naruto opened his eyes when he felt someone take the seat next to him. It was the same girl that had asked for the directions to the academy earlier. She smiled at him and introduced herself.

"Hi my name is Mei Terumi." She held out her hand at him expectantly.

"Naruto Uzumaki." He replied shortly.

Naruto was confused. Didn't she know who he was?

"The ramen topping?" she asked holding back her amusement.

"Hey! It also means maelstrom I'll have you know" Naruto said.

"Sure . . ." she mocked.

"Alright class, quiet down." The same instructor that had come in earlier said.

"My name is Umino Iruka, and I will be your instructor for the next four years. As per the orders of the Hokage this class will remain the same for the coming years."

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh after hearing that tidbit of information. He had noticed that Sasuke was in this class as well. There were also an unusually high number of Clan Heirs in this class, he had noticed that when he had read the class roster. There was Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and the king emo Uchiha Sasuke. The class was full of Ninjas that had a fighting chance to graduate. Naruto was sure that the Hokage had been the one, who had decided the class placements, the academy teachers would never consent to him being in this class.

However there was one person that piqued his curiosity, her name was Uchiha Sakiko. Apparently she was the twin sister of Sasuke. At a glance he could say that she was nothing like her stuck-up brother, but Naruto would reserve his judgment for when he got to know her properly. The day passed in the same fashion as the previous years, with one glaring difference. Mei, who was apparently bored would engage him in conversation, as the day progressed, he came to know that she was from Kirigakure (Hidden village in the Mist) and was forced to flee her home when the Mizukage ordered his Ninjas to kill all the persons possessing any Bloodline. She was able to escape, and luckily was found by a Konoha ANBU returning from his mission. He had taken her with him and on her arrival at Konoha; the Hokage was gracious enough to allow her to enter the academy to become a Ninja. Naruto had skillfully dodged her own questions, that he was uncomfortable in answering and redirected the conversation. At the end of the day Naruto was surprised when he came to know that she had been given his old apartment, by the Hokage to stay at. They went their own way after the academy.

Naruto was contemplating his day as he walked towards his house. Naruto really felt that he would like to have Mei as his friend, but he would not get his hopes up.

Naruto proceeded to his training room. He took a few deep breaths and calmed himself and then activated his Resistance Seal. He immediately felt as if he was standing in quicksand, it was even a little more difficult to breathe. He channelled chakra to the seal in order to make it visible and created a few clones to help see if the seal was applied correctly. There was a single digit number at the centre of his chest; it was currently showing the value '01'. This number indicated the level that the resistance seal was set at. There were a total of twenty-five levels. According to his father's journal, he was at eighteen when he had stopped using the seal. He hadn't written down the reason why he had stopped, just that he did. After a few minutes, he dispelled his clones and reviewed the memories that he received. Nodding satisfactorily, he collected as much chakra as he could and whispered, "Kage Bunshin".

There was a puff of smoke and he counted about hundred clones. The reduced number of clones was a direct effect of the Chakra Seal. Although it would limit the amount of chakra flowing through him, its benefits were undeniable. And Kyuubi had informed him that he would need a _lot _of chakra in order to reach his potential. The Chakra Seal also had the advantage of increasing one's Chakra Control. The Chakra Seal would disrupt the flow of Chakra though his coils and thus, he would need a higher level of control in order to use his Jutsu.

He ordered his clones to practice the Leaf Floating exercise for a few hours and then proceed on to Tree Walking. The feet were said to be hardest place to channel one's Chakra. In order to do the Tree Walking exercise, he would need to apply a small precise amount of Chakra to his feet in order to stick to the tree's surface. Too much and he would be blown off, too little and he would not stick altogether. As the clones started their work, Naruto began his physical workout. Naruto barely completed half of his exercises before he collapsed in exhaustion. This didn't deter Naruto however, and he continued doing his exercises until he passed out.

**Timeskip - One Month**

One month had passed since Naruto had met Mei, and Naruto was proud to call her his friend. He had expected her to hate him after she came to know about him from others and saw the way others treated him. He had asked her this very fact and was surprised by her answer. She said that she knew the pain of living alone, without friends, without anyone to support and praise them. It was how the persons who had a Bloodline were treated in Kirigakure. Naruto had looked at her with a blank stare for a while and had surprised her with a hug. After the academy, they used to often study and play together. Naruto helped Mei in unlocking her Chakra, and showed her how to do the Leaf Floating exercise. Mei's chakra network was completed after only a week and they had started doing the exercises, together. But even after training with Mei, Naruto would still continue on with his own training. Naruto had also noticed that Kyuubi had changed somewhat in the past month, whenever they would talk, she would lean in to his side and rest her head on his shoulder. She would hold his hand every chance she got and their hugs would last a little longer than normal. He had asked her about this, but she would only look away from him with a blush on her cheeks.

After one month of steady improvement Naruto felt that he could perform all his exercises at the same level as before he applied his seal. He could also create approximately two hundred clones now. He was mildly surprised that he was progressing this fast, but Kyuubi had explained to him that, his chakra was being augmented by her Youkai and his Bloodline from his father that had been augmented by her to include regenerative abilities, helped to make the muscles heal faster. Every week he would release both his seals and practice throughout the day to get a feel for his true chakra levels, speed, strength, reflexes etc.

He planned to up his Resistance Seal today. It was a holiday today and it would give him a full day to get used to the new level of resistance. Every consecutive level of the seal would offer twice the amount of resistance than the one before it. He ran around his training ground a few times to get a feel for the new resistance. He then created a few clones and started sparring.

**Elsewhere**

Terumi Mei was currently wandering around the village thinking of her blonde friend Naruto Uzumaki. It had been barely a month since she had come to Konoha and met him. She could honestly say that she had never been happier in her life. Granted her life had never been full of sunshine and flowers earlier but she truly believed that had she not been his friend she would not be this happy. He was someone who could relate to her pain. Over the past month, she had trained with him often and soon realized one thing. Naruto was much more powerful than he portrayed at the Academy. When she had asked about this, Naruto had just shrugged and said that his life would be easier this way. She understood this somewhat.

Naruto would help her with exercises and practicing Chakra Control. This morning, Mei had come to a startling realization, although Naruto had visited her apartment many times over the past month, either to study or walking her to her home after a particularly hard day of exercising. So, she had gone to the Hokage and asked him where Naruto lived. The Hokage had seemed surprised at her question but told her the address nevertheless.

When she reached the place she saw that Naruto's place was a lot better than she expected. Shrugging she walked into the walkway leading to the front door and knocked twice.

**With Naruto**

Naruto was currently hanging upside down on the ceiling of the training room while sparring. This improved his concentration and also his Chakra control. He was currently sparring against two of his Clones. This was a very effective exercise as the clones which he created didn't have the Resistance Seal on them and it made up for their deficit in speed and strength. He ducked beneath an overhead swipe and turning on his heels planted his foot firmly in the back of the clone dispelling it. As soon as he righted himself he had to defend against the second clone that had charged up to him his hand held in a claw like gesture. Knowing how painful that particular strike could be, he caught hold of the wrist and brought his other hand up and punched the clone in the throat. He heaved a tired sigh and walked down to the floor. As soon as he reached however he sensed a familiar chakra signature enter the house gates. Wondering about his visitor, he quickly exited the Training ground and walked towards the door.

Opening the door he saw that Mei was standing in front of him smiling brightly.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun" she greeted.

"Good morning to you as well Mei-chan" Naruto said waving at her to come inside.

"Started training already?" she asked confused.

"Yeah . . . so what's up?"

"Do you know how to swim?" Mei asked.

"Huh. . . erhm no actually." Naruto said being caught off guard with her question.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well . . . back in Kiri I used to swim a lot. I really enjoy swimming, and was wondering if you would like to come with me?"

"Sure I would like to accompany you, if you would teach me how to swim." Naruto said sheepishly.

"Of course I will teach you, after all what are friends for?" Mei

"Thank You Mei-chan."

After Naruto had grabbed a couple of towels and spare clothes they proceeded toward the outskirts of the village to a place that Mei had discovered was a great place for swimming. It was a small secluded lake nearly a mile across and was surrounded by rocks on one side and dense trees on the other. The water was clear and reflected the morning sun off the surface brilliantly. Mei took off her clothes leaving her dressed in a simple dark blue one piece swimsuit that had frills made in flower designs on it. Naruto tried very hard not to stare at her and busied himself with taking his clothes off.

Mei on the other hand was flustered herself; Naruto-kun's body was toned beyond perfection. There wasn't a trace of fat on his body and his stomach was absolutely flat and toned. The way his arm muscles flexed as he took off his t-shirt sent butterflies in her stomach. She blushed a brilliant shade of red as she realized that she was staring. She immediately turned away from him and dived into the lake in order to hide her face. She swan halfway to the lake and came back to see Naruto looking at her intently.

"Sh. . .Shall we get started?" she asked flustered.

"Sure _Sensei_" Naruto smiled.

Mei spent half an hour of her time explaining breathing techniques and strokes in swimming. Then she spent a couple of hours teaching him how to swim, Naruto was a quick learner and was slowly swimming alongside Mei.

"Wow I've never seen anyone learn to swim this quickly before Naruto-kun. You weren't kidding when you said that you didn't know how to swim were you?" Mei asked.

Naruto chuckled and got out of the water. Changed into new clothes and said, "I'll get us something to eat Mei-chan, any preferences?"

"Hmm . . . how about some Dango" Mei answered.

"Sure, be right back Mei-chan" saying that, Naruto took off at a leisurely pace towards the village and using a quick Henge was able to buy some Dango and chocolates for them. He walked back to the clearing that Mei was waiting for him at. He looked towards where she was sitting at and immediately was put on edge seeing her surrounded by three kids that were a year senior in their Academy. He was about to jump in when he saw Mei lash out with her foot at the person directly in front of her, Naruto winced as he saw him go down clutching his hands to the affected area. After kicking, Mei had turned towards the kid on her right and punched him in the face. The third person backed away fearfully and with a last glance at Mei's glaring face, ran off screaming.

"Nice work Mei-chan" Naruto chuckled.

Mei whirled around and saw Naruto laughing.

"When did you get back Naruto-kun?" she asked.

"Long enough to know not to get on your bad side." Naruto said seriously, subconsciously holding his legs close together. Mei giggled slightly noticing this.

"Come on, let's go to my house it's nearer" Mei said.

They spent the rest of the day just talking and spending time with each other. They had decided that they would go for a couple of hours of swimming every day after they were finished with their exercises. They had enjoyed the day together immensely and were looking forward to more days such as this. As night began to fall Naruto proceeded towards his apartment and resumed his own training.

As he slept that night, he had to put up with the relentless teasing of Kyuubi. Even when she was teaching him she would pass a comment insinuating something perverted and Naruto would be left spluttering not able to form a response. Naruto was now proficient enough in his Taijutsu, he had learnt all the forms and could perform all the Katas flawlessly. He would just need to keep on practicing it to achieve mastery. Kyuubi had said that he was ready to begin training in Elemental Ninjutsu. Kyuubi had said that he would first need to find out his elemental affinity using Chakra Paper. Naruto remembered finding some along with the Sealing supplies and made a note to check it sometime tomorrow. He had asked Kyuubi when his Sharingan would be activated, and Kyuubi had explained that he would need to be in a tough fight for him to activate it, it couldn't be done during training and sparring. He had asked where he would find a strong opponent to fight against, he couldn't ask a Konoha Ninja to do it. If the villagers were to find out, there would be nothing stopping them from attacking him anymore. After they had finished training Naruto lied down on the base of a tree and was surprised when Kyuubi lied down beside him. He went to sleep with a content smile on his face.

Naruto woke up feeling warm and happy inside, he was filled with excitement to begin a new stage of his training. After he had mastered some techniques for each of his affinities he would then train in Shape Manipulation and eventually Nature Manipulation. After he had completed that he would be able to create new techniques and would allow him to perform some of the Ninjutsus without Handsigns. He entered the room that he used for storing the sealing supplies and dafter some time found a wad of paper that he recognized as Chakra Paper. He took out one and channelled some of his chakra into it, the paper was torn to shreds, with half of it crumpling into miniscule particles and the rest turning to water and falling down, no traces left whatsoever of the original paper. Naruto was surprised, to even have an affinity at this age was rare, to have three, and as he suspected very high affinities, was unheard of.

"Wow . . ." Naruto couldn't help the exclamation that left his lips.

"**Looks like you have three Chakra Affinities Naruto-kun, and powerful affinities too. You will need to train really hard in order to master them.**" Kyuubi said.

"_I thought that you were asleep Kyuubi-chan, weren't you up the whole night right?_" Naruto asked. Kyuubi would generally sleep during the day, and would train Naruto at night.

"**I got to sleep some after you fell asleep, now then, go to the library and pick at least one Jutsu to learn for each element. C-Rank Jutsus will do. I'll try to help you with them later. Goodnight Naruto-kun.**" Kyuubi said.

"_Goodnight Kyuubi-chan, sweet dreams._"

Naruto then proceeded towards the library. He had long ago organized the Library according to what the scrolls contained. There was a section on Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Kinjutsu, Kenjutsu and other miscellaneous scrolls. The Ninjutsu section was further divided into Jutsus aligned with the five main elements and another for Ninja Skills. Chakra Control exercises and such were placed in this section. The Library didn't have any books on Fuuinjutsu, they were all placed in a separate room.

Naruto spent the next few hours browsing through the various Jutsus that he could learn. He eventually selected three, they worked well individually and were great follow-up Jutsus. Naruto grinned, he was steadily getting stronger and was closer to achieving his goal.

Kyuubi had told him to learn the Jutsus himself and then use his Clones to perfect and master it. She had said that if he would always use his Clones to learn things, it would not develop his learning ability and hinder his perceptive skills. Naruto had given thought to her advice and eventually agreed to it.

Naruto had decided on, Raiton:Kaminari Shibari (Lightning Release: Thunder Binding), Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough) and Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Release: Gunshot). All of them were C-Ranked as Kyuubi had suggested.

Naruto created three hundred clones and ordered them to do the usual tree walking exercise. Naruto then began to practice doing the handseals for the Daitoppa.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**Chapter 4**

It took Naruto a full month to get the three Jutsus chosen by him down. After being able to do the Jutsus competently, he would make some extra clones and then they would practice doing the Jutsu. Since the clones would use up the Chakra available to them in a short while, mostly after performing the Jutsu twice or in some cases thrice, he needed to repeatedly make new clones. This further helped him in increasing his Chakra reserves. His reserves were now around Mid-ANBU level with High-Genin control. He had gotten more fluid with his Taijutsu style and was now able to fight against three clones at a time. His spars now also included Ninjutsu as the clones would sometimes do them to catch him off-guard. Naruto was happy that he had completed his Taijutsu training before they started instructing them at the academy, as learning two styles at once was not recommended. He had decided that he would follow the Academy Taijutsu style during practices and would keep his primary style to himself. Naruto had noticed that the Academy teachers would not teach him correct stances, the teachers for Taijutsu were Naruto's previous teachers and always seemed to hate him with a passion. This didn't hinder him as Mei would teach him the correct stances when they got together to train. Naruto estimated that he would need another month to Level up his Resistance Seal as he was not back up to his usual speed with it yet. For strength training, Naruto had begun carrying heavy loads while doing his exercises. He would need to buy weights as soon as he could. He had started on the Water Walking exercise, and it had taken him two days to do it. He was now using his clones to practice it further.

He had continued on his swimming exercises and was now as good as Mei was. She had pouted cutely the first time he had beaten her in their many races. He had incorporated swimming in his own training exercise and would often use it to wind down after his rigorous physical training regimen.

Naruto was feeling the need to test his abilities against someone. Training all the time was all well and good but he needed to see how far he had come. True strength only comes out in the heat of battle. Although Mei was strong for their age, she was not anywhere near his level. He wasn't being arrogant in his abilities, just brutally honest. He would spar with Kyuubi, but he couldn't get hurt or hurt someone inside his mindscape. This was very good for learning but not for training and battle simulation. Kyuubi estimated him at Mid-Chunin with all his seals off. He was currently going towards the academy running on the roof tops at a slow pace. He had an uneasy feeling ever since he woke up this morning. He would glance around warily as if he was searching for soon as he reached however, an ANBU stepped in front of him and handed him a scroll before using Sunshin to get away. Naruto read the scroll that was apparently meant for him.

_Naruto-kun,_

_Meet me at the tower after you're done for the day._

_Hizuren Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage._

Naruto wondered what it was about. Normally he would just come meet him at his house. Shrugging Naruto went to his class. He spotted Mei and raising a hand in greeting walked towards her.

They were surprised that day when Iruka-sensei said that they would be having a class evaluation today. The class evaluation consisted of two parts a written exam and the physical. Since they had been taught the basic form of Taijutsu spars were organized as a method to determine scores. Naruto breezed through the written test, he was reading much more complex materials than, '_What was the Nidaime Hokage's name_?'

The class was then escorted outside to the training grounds. They were paired up according to their names and Naruto was stuck with a random civilian student. Naruto sighed, it seems that he couldn't catch a break.

Nevertheless he was carefully observing the fights were taking place. The Uchiha twins were placed together, no surprise, they had the same last name. But as he was observing the match he narrowed his eyes. Sasuke was unnecessarily beating her up.

"Is that all you can do Sakiko?" Sasuke sneered.

Sakiko just glared at him. She got into her fighting stance shakily but didn't have time to react as Sasuke was immediately on the offensive. He ducked under her clumsy punch and slammed his hand into her stomach causing her to wheeze, quickly spun around and kicked her in the back sending her flying from the ring.

"Tch. . . useless, you are not worthy of carrying the Uchiha name. You should just quit being a Ninja before you further shame the name of the Uchiha Clan. You who cannot gain the true strength of the Uchiha is no sister of mine." saying that, he walked away from her. Naruto saw her trying to get up. No one moved to help her, Naruto was surprised by this fact, how come the children treated two siblings from the same clan so differently.

Naruto was faced with an internal conflict. Either to help Sakiko or to go bat shit crazy on the arrogant bastard's ass. Sighing he calmed himself down and moved to help her up.

"Hey, can you stand?" Naruto asked.

Sakiko was breathing erratically, her breaths coming in short gasps. Naruto knelt down to her level and picked her up, placing her on his back.

"Wh. . . What are . . . you do. . . doing? Put . . . me do. . . down" she was having a hard time talking.

"You need to go to the Hospital, I'm just taking you there." Naruto replied.

"I ca. . . can walk . . . th. . . there my. . . myself" Sakiko stated.

"Sure you can . . ." Naruto said as he tilted his head to the side to look at her.

Sakiko was startled by the maturity and confidence that shone in his eyes. One look at them and she was sure that he _would_ take her to the Hospital, whether she wanted to or not. Resigning herself to her fate, she just rested her head on his shoulder and was lulled into unconsciousness by his steady running.

"_Hmm it's not so bad . . . maybe he will agree to be my friend . . ."_ she thought.

Naruto felt her head droop over his shoulder slightly, and increased his speed. Using Henge he entered the Ninja Hospital and asked for the nurse to help Sakiko. The nurse asked him to follow her and told him to tell her everything that he knew about her injuries. Naruto was very specific in his observations and told the nurse exactly what he had seen. If the nurse was surprised by his professionalism, she hid it well.

'_I swear these Ninjas get younger each day . . ._' she thought shaking her head.

Sakiko was promptly healed and the doctor told Naruto that she would be as good s new tomorrow. Naruto thanked the doctor, left a note for Sakiko and left the Hospital as soon as possible. In his opinion, the less time he spent there the better.

He then jumped up to the roofs and started heading to the academy. As he arrived, he saw that the class had finished the physical exam. He sighed, another fail for him.

The teacher didn't allow him to enter the class, Naruto didn't argue with him on this. He just nodded shortly and left whit a quick glance at Mei. Mei nodded back at him and smiled.

'_Might as well see what Ojii-san wanted to see me about._'

Naruto reached the Hokage tower and walked up the stairs. He sat down in the waiting room waiting for the Hokage to call him inside. He could hear a lot of shouting going on behind the closed doors, and Naruto wondered what was going on. Suddenly the floor shook and the doors were rattled with the force of whatever had shaken the floor.

"Come in Naruto-kun." Naruto heard the voice of the Hokage call him.

Naruto got up nervously and walked towards the doors. As soon as he entered the office he noticed that there were two other occupants in the room besides the Hokage. The older of the two women was blonde haired, which was a couple of shades darker than his. She had a violet rhombus on her forehead. She had brown eyes that were looking at him with something Naruto recognized as sadness. Her blonde hair was tied into two loose ponytails using purple bands; the same colour as the seal on her forehead. Except for her bangs, which were parted in the middle and fall down the sides of her face. She was wearing a grass-green robe with the kanji for _gamble_ written in black on the back, inside a red circle. Underneath she was wearing a grey, kimono-style blouse with no sleeves, held closed by a broad, dark bluish-grey obi that matches her pants. She was also wearing open-toed sandals with low heels and polish on both her fingernails and toenails. Naruto had only taken a few seconds to make this observation and glanced over at the younger woman. She had shoulder length black hair with bangs and dark eyes. She was wearing a long bluish-black kimono with white trimmings, held closed by a white obi, and open-toed sandals with low heels. She was also holding a pig that was dressed in red velvet and had a pearl necklace around its neck in her arms.

Naruto stepped towards the Hokage and immediately noticed what had made the floor shake earlier; the Hokage's desk was suspiciously absent from its usual place and was instead resting on the far side of the wall broken in at least three distinct pieces.

"Yes, Naruto-kun, please sit down, there is something that I think you need to know. This here is Senju Tsunade and her apprentice Shizune.

Naruto nodded slightly at them and turned confused eyes towards the Hokage.

Sarutobi sighed looked directly at Naruto and said, "Naruto-kun Tsunade is you Godmother."

Naruto was frozen in place. He didn't know what to think, how to react. He just stared blankly at the Hokage with unseeing eyes. He got up bowed politely and just left the office, stating that he needed to be alone for a while.

"Well this could have gone better. . ." Sarutobi stated staring at the door.

"You think so?" Tsunade snarled sarcastically, spun around and slammed the doors on her way out. The Hokage was sure that he would need to replace the door later.

**With Tsunade**

Tsunade was trying really hard not to break down the damn Hokage tower. She little respect that she had for the position of Hokage was lost with her sensei's act of betrayal. She had arrived at Konoha late last night, tore her way into Sarutobi's room and yank his head up in the air.

She had calmed down later and demanded to know everything that he knew about her Godson. Sarutobi had told her everything that he knew about Naruto's situation. Tsunade had come close to killing him at some points in the story and had looked down, hiding her eyes at some. Shizune was sobbing openly at the cruelty of Naruto's life. After Sarutobi had finished his tale, Tsunade had immediately gone towards Naruto's apartment; Shizune had caught up with her and told her to observe him first for a day. So they had spent the day observing him. She had to use her utmost skills to remain hidden from him, the first time she had been spotted as soon as she had entered his field of mental vision; the area around a person that he is completely aware of. Naruto had a field of awareness of about 10 meters as far as she could tell, any closer and he would begin to get restless. She was feeling very proud of her Godson when she saw that he had helped out a girl in his class, when no one else would. She had been confused at first seeing him use Henge to enter the hospital, but understood it afterwards. Her temper had reached its breaking point when she saw that the teacher had thrown him out of the class. She had immediately gone to the Hokage and began threatening him with death if he would stop her from taking him away from Konoha.

She had been nervous of his reaction when he would find out about her being his Godmother. She had seen that he didn't interact much with others his own age and only seemed to talk with a pretty girl that was always with him. She had been surprised when he had first met her, he had seemed to be evaluating her, as if he was going to fight her. She watched as he seemed to close-off him emotions and walked away from the office. She had contemplated following him but held back giving him time to sort out his own feelings. Her talking to him might just antagonize him towards her.

**With Naruto**

Naruto didn't know how to feel at the moment. He had placed his absolute trust in his Oji. . . no Hokage-sama. It would take a long time for him to trust him again if ever. He wasn't sure about his Godmother, granted it was not her fault for abandoning him, but she should have tried harder. He would deal with her later, he was too worked up to think clearly. He decided to go towards his and Mei's training field, the one with the lake. He took a few deep breaths and began running laps around the lake.

Mei arrived after some time and immediately noticed that something was bothering her friend. He was distracted and was leaving openings in his style that she knew he wouldn't make usually. She signalled for him to stop walked over to a tree stump and sat down beside it, she patted the ground next to her. Naruto hesitated for a few seconds and then sat down beside her.

"What's bothering you Naruto?"

"It's nothing." Naruto replied immediately.

"You need to talk about it Naruto. I'm your friend aren't I? Please tell me what's bothering you."

Naruto just looked at her and then told her everything that had happened after he had entered the Hokage tower.

"Well in my opinion, you should give your Godmother a chance Naruto. She is someone that your parents trusted enough that they wouldn't mind raising you if something happened to them."

"But I can't just accept her into my life Mei-chan. You know how I don't trust anyone, they always hurt you afterwards."

Naruto felt completely betrayed by the Hokage.

"I'm going to head home now Mei-chan, see you tomorrow." Naruto tried smiling but it came out as a grimace.

Mei watched sadly as Naruto walked away and prayed that everything would work out for him.

As Naruto reached his apartment, he saw that Tsunade as well as Shizune was standing there waiting for him. Naruto glanced at Tsunade and was surprised to see that her eyes were slightly misty.

Naruto sighed. He really couldn't place the blame on her, he realized that, but a childish part of him just couldn't let the grudge go. Unless. . .

"Come inside, Tsunade-san."

Tsunade nodded and they entered the apartment. Tsunade was surprised when he led her to his training ground. She looked at Shizune hoping that she could tell her what's going on, but she seemed to be as lost as she was.

"Naruto I'm reall. . ." Tsunade started.

"We'll talk later Tsunade-san. Right now I have a request to make."

"What do you need Naruto?"

"Please fight me."

"What? Why?"

"I need to know something. After that I promise that we will talk."

Naruto saw Tsunade hesitate for a moment before she shook her head resignedly and got into a loose fighting stance.

Naruto shot at her directly; Tsunade had expected that and had brought her arm in a block to counter his punch.

'_Hmm . . . he doesn't look it but the brats strong._'

This continued for some time. Naruto realized that he would be getting nowhere with his seals on. His Godmother seemed like she hadn't let her skill slip, being away from Ninja life for these many years.

Naruto backed away from her and back flipped some distance away. Tsunade just waited for him to make his next move.

Naruto brought his hands together in the Ram seal and whispered "Kai (Release)" twice in quick succession. Nothing seemed to happen for a while, but then his Chakra flared powerfully before he brought it back under his control.

Tsunade watched in slack jawed amazement as her Godson stood there surrounded by his own chakra. Even ignoring the fact that it was visible clearly by the naked eye, it's colour was totally different from regular chakra. It was a very deep blue in colour, it would almost appear black in insufficient light. And the amount, no Academy student should have such reserves. They were at least ANBU level. Tsunade was getting worried for her Godson, after all he was barely 9 and as such his body shouldn't be developed enough to handle such amounts of chakra.

"Naruto stop this at once, your body will not be able to handle such power." Tsunade said hoping that he would stop immediately so that she could check on him. Who knows how long he had been practicing in the same manner.

"Don't worry Tsunade-san, I am more than capable of handling my own power." Naruto resumed the stance for his original Taijutsu Style, the Shadow Fist.

Naruto charged at her again.

'_The brat_ _might be powerful, but he has a one track mind. He needs to mix things up if he will ever win his battles_' Tsunade thought and again brought her hands up to block his strike. Just as it was going to connect, he vanished from her sights.

'_Wha_. . .'

Tsunade had almost no time to block Naruto who was at her side in mid motion for a punch. She blocked his strike, but slid a few steps back from the sheer power of the strike.

'_God damn . . . the brat's punches are nothing to scoff at_.'

Tsunade immediately channelled Chakra into her muscles to help take blows, and reduce their effectiveness.

They clashed with each other for approximately 5 minutes and Tsunade realized that she was finding it increasingly difficult to remain of the defensive. Naruto suddenly appeared beside her, right in her blind spot and she reacted reflexively, she shot her hand forward catching Naruto in the chest and sending him sprawling backwards.

"Oh no. . ." Tsunade muttered and shot forward to check him.

She stopped short however, when he shakily got up on his feet. His eyes were covered by his hair and he seemed that he had passed out. Suddenly Chakra exploded outwards from him; this chakra was definitely Black in colour, weaker than before but still enough. He lifted his face and looked directly at her.

He then began going through handsigns and called out Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough). A concentrated blast of air headed towards Tsunade. She was so shocked that she didn't have time to put up her guard and was blasted back approximately 20 meters.

"I need to finish this fight fast." Tsunade muttered to herself. She then engaged him in Taijutsu and using her advanced control sent a few bursts of Lightning Chakra into him. It would render him unable to move.

Naruto slumped bonelessly to the ground and gazed up at her when she walked up to him. He smiled slightly at her, muttered "You sure are strong Baa-chan." and promptly slumped into unconsciousness.

"Shizune, get Naruto up to the bedroom. He needs to rest."

Shizune, who wore an expression of awe and amazement on her face, just nodded mutely and picked Naruto up. She could hardly believe that an academy student had fought her Sensei and fought damn well. Heck she wondered who would win if she were to fight him.

'_He looks too cute while sleeping; I can hardly believe that he was this strong.'_

Tsunade followed Shizune upstairs and checked him over for some injuries. She observed that some of the small cuts and scrapes had already started healing and his muscles that were strained were starting to relax. Tsunade was amazed at the medical marvel that was taking place in front of her.

She just tucked him in and with a last glance at him from the door; she headed downstairs deciding that she would ask him what exactly happened today later.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**Chapter 5**

Naruto sat down with Tsunade the next morning and talked. They talked well past lunchtime and were able to understand each other much better. Naruto had spent the whole night ranting and raving at Kyuubi about what had happened that day and although Kyuubi herself was angered that the Hokage would do something to Naruto, she realized that getting angry herself wouldn't help Naruto. So, she had listened patiently, told him her views on the matter, and just held him close to herself when she thought that he looked like he needed a hug. By the time Naruto woke up he was considerably calmer and placed the blame where it belonged. He had decided that he would give his Godmother a chance; it would be helpful for both him as well as her. Shizune had told Naruto of Tsunade's past before he had sat down to talk with her and Naruto found out that he really couldn't blame her for leaving Konoha. Losing you fiancé, your brother and your godson to the same village tends to inspire such feelings towards the village. Naruto couldn't help but feel sympathetic and had ended the discussion with giving Tsunade a huge hug.

"So Naruto-kun care to tell me why you wanted to fight me yesterday?" Tsunade asked.

"I wanted to gauge my progress with my training . . . and also by fighting you I was able to stem my bad feelings towards you." Naruto replied honestly.

Tsunade was surprised by the maturity shown by him. Then again he had been living by himself for nearly a year now so that had to account for something.

"I don't know if Sarutobi has told you yet but the Kyuubi was not defeated by your father. Although he was strong, he couldn't defeat the Kyuubi decisively. So he . . ."

". . . Sealed her within me. I know." Naruto finished cutting across Tsunade's sentence.

"How do you know that? Kushina told me that Kyuubi was not what everyone believed it to be, and was actually a nice person, but its actions that day doesn't exactly reassure you." Tsunade said.

"Better get comfortable Baa-chan; this is going to take some time."

With that Naruto began his explanation, starting from where he had been having strange dreams right up until yesterday morning.

Tsunade was fuming at the life that Naruto had been living up until now, she was happy however that he seemed to have at least one friend. Naruto had then asked her if she would help him in his training, Tsunade had happily agreed to that. It was not as if she had anything better to do anyways. She could teach Shizune when Naruto was at the academy and Naruto when he got home.

She knew that Naruto had to get strong as soon as possible, while keeping people in Konoha and thus everywhere ignorant of his true abilities. He needed to be at least Jounin level before he could start showing his abilities. Then he would be able to hold off some of the people that would come after him, both due his history with Madara and due to the grudges against him due to his parents.

As soon as she had received Sarutobi's letter she had sent an urgent message to Jiraiya telling him and asking him to come to Konoha. He was supposed to be Naruto's Godfather but he had declined the position stating that he was too valuable to Konoha as its spymaster and could better help Naruto by giving him valuable information. Tsunade had been both proud and angry at him after he made this comment. Proud of him, for actually thinking of his responsibilities before blindly accepting new ones and angry at him, for putting Konoha above Naruto. After meeting Naruto and talking to him she was glad that she had contacted him, Naruto would need any information that he could get and Tsunade was certain that Jiraiya would have something for Naruto. Jiraiya would also be invaluable in teaching Naruto, while she was considered a Sannin as well as her teammates; the fact was that she was much more of a medic than a frontline fighter. She knew for a fact that she would lose against Jiraiya in a one on one fight, but it would be a cold day in hell before she let him know that. Naruto had all the markings of an incredible Ninja and she would make sure that her Godson would achieve his potential, and surpass it if she had anything to say about it. Naruto was sitting down on the couch reading a random novel when he felt a familiar chakra signature on his doorstep, he was confused however by the second signature that was accompanying Mei. Naruto opened the door and came face to face with Mei and Sakiko. He was surprised by her presence here but he smiled it off and invited both of them in.

"How are you feeling Naruto-kun? You missed the Academy today." Mei stated with a worried glance at her friend.

"Don't worry Mei-chan, I sorted out my differences and am much happier than I was yesterday." Naruto stated.

"Naruto-san I would like to thank you for your help yesterday." Sakiko said with a slight bow.

"Please stand up Sakiko-san, I did what anyone _should_ have done. But you are welcome." Naruto smiled at her.

"She asked me if she could train with us after the academy. I told her I didn't have a problem with it if you didn't." Mei stated cheerfully.

Sakiko turned startled eyes towards Mei before she glanced at Naruto and looked at her feet.

"Of course you can join us." Naruto stated.

Sakiko whipped her head up to look at him surprise clearly evident in her eyes.

"I don't know why everyone ignores you, even though you are an Uchiha, you are constantly overlooked, and I suspect that you don't like your brother much." Naruto ended his statement phrased as a question.

Sakiko's eyes were brimming with unshed tears as she was reminded of her situation again. She was born with a defect that rendered her unable to ever gain the Sharingan, the Uchiha clan's pride. Growing up she was constantly ignored by her father and as he grew up Sasuke. Itachi had always been pleasant to her more so than to Sasuke but he wasn't around the house much due to his ANBU duties. The only person that she could honestly say loved her unconditionally was her mother. She had joined the Academy in the hopes of pleasing her father. She had done well for herself at the Academy, but as time went on she realized that she was steadily losing ground and would no longer be able to keep up with her brot . . . no he had lost that title long ago; she would now only refer to him as Sasuke. She had wondered about that and had found out that he was being trained by her father after the academy. Approximately 4 months after she started at the academy, her whole clan had been massacred at the hands of her elder brother Itachi. She hadn't been present when it had happened; she was at the hospital, recovering after her spar with Sasuke.

She had been devastated after she found out, not so much for the Uchiha Clan as a whole, not even for her father or brother but for her mother. The only one that cared for her had been ripped away from her. After that she had simply lost her will to be a Ninja. She had not attended the academy for almost two months. Sasuke had become even more insufferable after the massacre. She had lived in a separate house ever since then. Over her personal Sabbath of two months, she had realized that there was nothing else that she could do with her life. Even though Sasuke was going to be the clan head when he graduated from the academy she had suspected that she would be banished from the clan as soon as he was able to. He had stated as much yesterday. So she would be a clanless orphan with no means to support herself. So she had gone to the Hokage and requested to be allowed to continue at the Academy. She had unfortunately been placed in the same class as Sasuke. She had gone to the Hokage again, but he had sat her down and explained that her current class was the one class that was going to produce the most graduates, and her chances of becoming a Ninja would improve if she stayed in this class. So she had relented. She had failed to make any friends in the Academy, not that she tried very hard to make some. Almost all the girls were busy swooning over Sasuke and would imitate Sasuke in belittling her. She didn't show it but their comments hurt. There were a few people that she thought that she could be friends with, but they each had their own circle of friends and she was too nervous to approach any of them. All that had changed when Naruto had helped her yesterday; she had been reviewing all of her interactions with him over the semester, and found that he had always been kind to her. She had thought long and hard about the chance that she had now, she would try to become his friend and if he rebuffed her, she didn't want to think about that.

When she had arrived at the academy the next day she had immediately sought after Naruto, she had been disappointed when he didn't show up. She had noticed that Naruto's friend Mei Terumi, had been distracted the whole day. She couldn't help but glance at her several times during the day, wondering how it would be if she was the one that was Naruto's friend. She had been surprised when Mei had sat down next to her and started up a conversation. Sometime during the conversation Mei had mentioned that she and Naruto would train together every day after the Academy was let out. Before she could think about it she had asked her if she would mind if she joined them sometimes. Mei had just smiled at her and told her that she didn't mind but she would need to ask Naruto about it.

When Naruto had just agreed to her request as if there was nothing to think about, she had been filled a wonderful sense of lightedness, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. A culmination of her high emotions, her reminiscing and her happiness led her to do something that she never would be bold enough to do otherwise. She flung herself at Naruto and wrapped her arms around him, crying tears of happiness into his chest.

Naruto was startled when she had flung herself at him. He had just agreed to train with her and the next thing he knew he had a crying girl in his arms. Instincts kicking in, he just held her and allowed her to get control over her emotions, rubbing her back gently. After sometime, she just rubbed her eyes on his shirt and stepped away from him.

"I'm sorry. . ." Sakiko stated looking in every direction but straight at Naruto.

"Don't worry your pretty head over it Sakiko-san." Naruto said as he sat down on the couch.

Sakiko blushed faintly, shook her head and sat down on the chair.

"So why didn't you come to the academy today, Naruto-kun?" Mei asked as she sat down beside Naruto on the couch.

"I had a long talk with my godmother. You were right Mei-chan, I'm glad that I decided to follow you advice, and she is a nice enough person, strong too."

"So . . . where is she?" Mei asked looking around as if expecting her to just pop up somewhere in the room.

"She said that she had some unfinished business to discuss with the Hokage, she'll be back later tonight." Saying that, Naruto got up and walked towards his bedroom.

"I'll be back in a few minutes; I just need to grab a few things before we leave for training."

Naruto, Mei and Sakiko proceeded to the training ground and they spent that day mostly talking and determining each other's skills, areas they felt that they needed to work on and planning future training sessions. Naruto didn't like deceiving his friends about his true level of strength, but just looked at it as a necessity in order to protect his friends. It was a well known fact that Mei considered Naruto to be his friend. the villagers would sometimes call her names, and sometimes would settle for glaring at her. It was nowhere near as bad as Naruto was treated but Naruto still felt bad about it. Mei just waved his apologies aside and told him not to worry about it. Naruto was sure that it wouldn't take much time for them to figure out that Sakiko had joined their little group as well. They had warned her about this fact; she had just shrugged and said that whatever the village thinks didn't bother her that much, as long as she had someone that she could call a friend it was worth it. Naruto and Mei could certainly relate to that.

**Timeskip – 4 months**

Over the past four months Sakiko had improved in heaps and bounds. She was almost at the same level as Mei was. Sometime during these four months, Sakiko had told the both of them about her childhood and needless to say they had vowed to never ever break their friendship with each other. Mei had even asked her to move in with her stating that her apartment had an empty room and that she would be happy if she would accept to live with her. Sakiko had accepted and was now much happier for it. She had even told them about her disability in acquiring the Sharingan. After knowing about that, Naruto had asked Tsunade to check up on her and see if she could do anything. Needless to say Tsunade hadn't gained her title as the best medic in the world on a fluke, she was able to heal her eyes and told her that they were back to normal and it would be possible for her to gain the Sharingan in time. Sakiko had thanked Naruto and Tsunade profusely.

Naruto had asked her if she would like to tell Sasuke about this and see if he would change his mind about banishing her from the clan. Sakiko had flatly refused saying that she wanted nothing to do with the Uchiha clan anymore.

They had seen Naruto train one day and were amazed at the skill shown by their friend. they could barely follow his movements, the only time that they could tell anything was when Naruto separated from his opponent either to catch a break or as was often the case to use Ninjutsu.

The trio of Ninja trainees were currently sparring against each other. Mei and Sakiko against Naruto. Naruto was able to easily outmanoeuvre them, sliding away from their attacks with apparent ease, taking advantage of every opening that they left in their guards. He jumped above a leg sweep from Sakiko and saw that Mei was charging towards him with her fist cocked back, he turned in midair grabbing her wrist and then using her own momentum against her, he redirected her towards a nearby tree sending her sprawling towards it. He just landed beside Sakiko, who was busy staring at the spectacle before her.

"Never lose your focus Sakiko-chan." Naruto said before incapacitating her by holding a Kunai at her throat.

"Man no matter how hard we try we never get to beat you. One of these days I'm going to kick your ass so bad that you will remember it for a long time." Mei grumbled as she came walking towards them.

"You might not realize this but you improve a bit everyday both individually and as a team. I have to try harder each day to beat you." Naruto stated.

"But you always look as if you are hardly trying. It's as if whatever we do you just counter it, without showing surprise. Are we really that weak?" Mei asked. She had wondered about this fact ever since Naruto had trained with her, but never had the courage to ask him. Today at the academy, a kid in their class had asked a seemingly innocent question. He had asked why there were so many Academy students, but there were not that many Jounin in the village. Iruka-sensei had gazed at the eager expressions of the class, sighed and told a very grim tale. He told them that many of the Genins died in their career. The class had been understandably shocked and subdued that day. Mei was always worried that if she didn't grow strong along with Naruto-kun, he would just leave her in the dust. She knew that he would try his hardest to be there for her and would undoubtedly be her friend, but if they were a different rank they would no longer have any common ground, and would simply not spend as much time with her. She didn't admit it out loud but she was a little intimidated the one time that Naruto had gone all out against Tsunade.

"That's not the case at all Mei-chan." Naruto said.

"But. . ." she was silenced as Naruto placed his finger on her lips.

"It is the Ninja way, Mei-chan. Never let your opponent know what is going on in your mind. Never show pain, or even satisfaction on your face. Never let you emotions show on your face during battle, a skilled opponent might be able to talk you into circles long enough for you to leave an opening that he can exploit." Naruto explained.

Both of the girls were listening to what Naruto had to say with rapt attention. They decided that they would follow his advice as best they could.

"Though I have to admit that I am far more powerful than you can imagine." Naruto stated cheekily.

Mei just chuckled and swiped her hand at him half heartedly. Sakiko giggled lightly.

Suddenly Naruto sensed something approaching him and acting on instinct pushed Mei and Sakiko away from him. He had used all his power and thus they were able to avoid the blast resulting from an Exploding note attached to a kunai that was thrown at their position.

"Naruto-kun!" shouted the two girls.

"Well . . . what do we have here, a couple to cute academy students practicing with the Demon brat huh?"

Mie and Sakiko turned their heads rapidly from side searching for the assailant. Their attention was then drawn towards the centre of the blast, where Naruto was standing, worry for their friend etched onto their faces.

**With Naruto **

As soon as Naruto had sensed something, he had seen the end of paper trailing behind a kunai headed for his position. He pushed his friends away to save them from the inevitable blast and then released his seals just as the kunai impacted the ground before him. His subsequent release of chakra had been masked by the force of the explosion. He jumped back made a Shadow Clone that took his place and hid in the trees, searching for whoever had attacked them. The Ninja was good, he couldn't detect him. Naruto was beginning to feel a little bit of fear, he wasn't sure if he could take on the Ninja and protect his friends at the same time.

He spotted someone walking into the clearing, and just by looking at him Naruto knew that he was in for a tough fight. The man was wearing a standard Konoha Jounin uniform. Naruto cursed inwardly. He thought that they were secluded enough that no one could find them here, he had made sure every day that no one followed them to this location.

He saw that the Jounin was walking deliberately towards Mei and Sakiko who were staring at the remnants of the place where they believed him to be. He saw the Jounin tense slightly and Naruto immediately burst into action.

"Looks like all the training that you did didn't help the Demon at all huh? I don't have anything against you personally but you are a liability, and needs to be dealt with." The Jounin stated and charged towards them.

Just as he was about to reach them, a giant gust of wind blew in front of them and slammed the Jounin into a nearby tree after he had flown for about 50 meters. They looked ahead of them and saw Naruto leaping down from a tree. He stopped directly in front of them.

"I need the both of you to go get Tsunade or Shizune here, tell them what happened, I'll keep him off your back. Now go!"

"NO! You can't fight him alone Naruto-kun, please we'll go together, please." Sakiko pleaded.

"NO! I don't have time, Sakiko-chan please understand, go with Mei-chan, I can't forgive myself if something were to happen to you two." Naruto said looking pleadingly at Mei.

"Damn you brat that hurt."

Naruto got into his fighting stance and looked towards the Jounin, who had a thin trail of blood going down one side of his mouth. The Jounin suddenly seemed to phase in front of him and sent Naruto flying back into a tree with a vicious backhand to his face. Naruto coughed out some blood and tried standing after the impact.

The Jounin just sneered at him. He walked up to him and kicked him in the stomach, _hard._ Naruto was lifted a few feet off the ground, and the Jounin again punched him, sending him flying.

'_Damn it! He's too strong. At this rate . . . I'll really . . . Kyuubi-chan . . . Mei-chan . . . Sakiko-chan.' _

Naruto was suddenly filled with determination. He got up on his feet albeit unsteadily, and charged at the Jounin. Naruto fought with everything that he had, he put his training with Tsunade to good use, blocking some of the Jounin's punches but he soon realized that he just wasn't able to keep up. He was too weak from his initial beat down.

The Jounin chuckled evilly staring down at him, he was standing up but was unable to move, his whole body ached, his regeneration was working but it wasn't fast enough. The Jounin went through some handsigns concentrated a massive amount of chakra and shouted out Katon: Karyuudan (Fire Dragon Projectile)

**With the Jounin**

Just as he finished shouting his technique, he panted a bit, and went down on his knees. He had seriously underestimated the demon brat, although he had dominated throughout the fight, he had been hit several times. He had just been promoted to Jounin and he had promised himself a long time ago that when he was made Jounin he would kill the demon brat that had killed so many during that night 8 years ago. And today was the day that he finally accomplished his goal. He watched with satisfaction as his fire dragon approached its victim.

Suddenly he saw that the demon was engulfed in a strange Chakra that was black in colour. He watched as he dodged his technique and suddenly appeared in front of him, what he saw shook him to his very core.

His eyes had totally changed.

Naruto just stared wide eyed, trembling at his approaching death. He was rooted to the spot, unable to do anything.

'_Damn it . . . if only if had been stronger.'_

"**Naruto-kun!**"

Naruto suddenly felt chakra returning to him and suddenly his perception of the world changed. He could see things with clarity that he hadn't been able to before. He picked up subtle movements around him, he could clearly see the fire dragon approach him, much more slowly than before. He tried moving and found that he was able to do so easily. He saw that the person who attacked him was on his knees and out of breath. He rushed towards his position. He got directly in front of him and backhanded him towards a rock in the clearing. The Jounin impacted with the stone, making a rough crater. Naruto didn't let up on his attack, he again got in front of him, ducked under his punch and opening his palm straight fingers slightly bent, moving it in a spiral fashion, punched him with all his might in the stomach whispering, Atsuryoku Sutoraiki (Pressure Strike).

The rock which had already weakened slightly by his earlier attack shattered completely, and the Jounin was sent crumpling to the ground at Naruto's feet, coughing up vast amounts of blood. Naruto just stared at him dispassionately and left the clearing heading in the direction of his house. He hadn't gone far away before he saw his Baa-chan, closely followed by Mei and Sakiko heading towards him. He just smiled at them and promptly slipped into unconsciousness.

**Naruto's Mindscape**

Naruto woke up blinking rapidly. He looked at his surroundings and realized that he was in his mindscape. Looking around for Kyuubi, he frowned when he couldn't see her anywhere. Normally she would be waiting for him to wake up. He got up and began searching for her. He entered the house and immediately saw that Kyuubi was laid out on the couch. Naruto was shocked to see that she appeared to be completely exhausted and was breathing quite heavily.

"Kyuubi-chan, what happened?" Naruto asked as he sat down beside her and took her hand in his.

Kyuubi smiled up at him gently, and picking herself up a little bit motioned Naruto to get behind her. Naruto understood what she wanted and sat down on the couch and laid Kyuubi's head in his lap. He automatically began running his hands through her hair. Kyuubi just enjoyed the position she was in, closing her eyes she sighed in contentment. She got up and laid her back against Naruto; she took his arms in hers and wrapped them around herself. Naruto had a faint blush on his cheeks that she completely missed.

"Kyuubi-chan, why were you so exhausted earlier?" Naruto asked after sometime, concern laced in his voice.

"**When I gave you the Sharingan, there was something that I left out. The Sharingan is cursed, when the user masters the Sharingan and gains its final form the user steadily loses his eyesight the more he uses its powers. The Sharingan of the Uchiha's is a double edged sword, while it grants the user amazing abilities, it comes at the cost of losing one's vision. I knew of a way to get rid of this curse, I simply needed to use my chakra to make a final change to it. I just miscalculated the amount of chakra that would be required, I used up about eight tails of my chakra, that was the reason that I was so exhausted." **Kyuubi stated tensing slightly, afraid of Naruto's reaction.

She knew from previous experience that the chakra used by her would forever be lost to her; the seal prevented her from restoring her chakra. She knew that Naruto was also aware of this fact. She really didn't want to tell him what she had done; Naruto would definitely get mad at her. She sighed, she would just have to tell him and wait for the consequences.

"Eight tails? But. . . but why? I know you are aware that you can't replenish your power while sealed, so why?" Naruto asked confused.

"**The Sharingan had a second level Naruto-kun, it's called the Mangeky****ō**** Sharingan, the longer that you use this level, the more you are blinded. The only way for the user to overcome this disability is to take the eyes of a blood relative that has also awakened the Mangeky****ō**** Sharingan. But even this level is a bridge between the Sharingan and the Eternal Mangeky****ō**** Sharingan**, **the true and final form of the Sharingan."** Kyuubi said.

Kyuubi noticed the shocked look on his face and seeing that he was about to argue with her, she hastily begun to continue her story.

"**The basis of this fact is that the Sharingan requires another chakra source, one that is similar to the user's chakra in order to gain stability and finish its evolution into the Eternal ****Mangeky****ō**** Sharingan. What I did ensured that whenever you gain the Mangeky****ō**** Sharingan it would not stay in that stage and directly transcend to the Eternal Mangeky****ō**** Sharingan." **Kyuubi said letting out her breath after her monologue.

"How do you get the Mangekyō Sharingan?" Naruto asked.

Kyuubi was happy that Naruto had not blamed her for not informing him of her plans. She knew that had she told him, he would have flatly refused her offer and said that he would find another way. Kyuubi always admired his sense of righteousness and his fierce loyalty to those that he considered friends.

"**There are two ways to gain the ****Mangeky****ō**** Naruto-kun, though the Uchiha believe that to gain the Mangeky****ō**** you need to kill your closest friend the other way is for the user to gain complete mastery over the Sharingan, this however takes a lot of time and training. With me helping you master the Sharingan it would take you about 5-6 years**." Kyuubi said.

"You should rest Kyuubi-chan, you're still a little tired." Naruto said.

"**I** **will Naruto-kun, but first you have to show me your Sharingan."** Kyuubi said spinning around in his arms and facing him directly, with an excited gleam in her eyes.

"What do you mean Kyuubi-chan? Why would my Sharingan be any different?" Naruto asked with a confused expression on his face.

"**Well I altered the Sharingan a bit. . . I improved it you could say. Just know that your Sharingan while having the same powers as the Uchiha will be much better and should you fight against another Sharingan wielder, you would have a slight advantage. Now hurry up, I wanna see . . ."** Kyuubi said with a childlike pout on her face.

Naruto chuckled at the face that Kyuubi was making and channelled chakra into his eyes, he saw that he had the same perception of the world as he had when he was fighting earlier. Looking at Kyuubi he saw that she was looking at his eyes in wonder and amazement. Getting curious himself, he turned his head and looked at the mirror behind the couch. When he saw his eyes, he was shocked and frankly, a bit unnerved.

His sclera had turned completely black; his irises were a bright golden yellow with one tomoe similar to the Sharingan in each eye. He stared entranced into his eyes for quite some time, before Kyuubi caught hold of his chin and peered into his eyes for a long time. Seemingly in a trance, she was leaning closer to his face. Naruto just stared wide eyed at Kyuubi's actions and before he realised it, he had just received his first proper kiss.

Kyuubi broke contact almost immediately, as if realizing her actions and blushed an amazing shade of red so much so that her whole face including her neck was red.

"**That was . . . I uh. . . .what I mean is . . . umm**." Kyuubi stuttered her face still glowing.

Kyuubi was mortified. She just up and kissed Naruto on the lips. Sure she planned to do that . . . and so much more. . . but this was a few years before she planned to tell him. She decided to just tell him and leave the rest up to him.

Letting out a deep breath she said, **"Naruto-kun what I meant to say is that I . . . love . . . you."** She faltered slightly at the end, her blush intensifying.

Naruto wasn't doing much better than her, he had a huge blush adorning his cheeks, and was staring at her in slight shock. He stared at Kyuubi's face that was looking up at him expectantly with a slight hint of fear and nervousness. Naruto just pulled her in for a hug, and spoke to her, his voice slightly muffled by her hair.

"You're always there for me, always helping me selflessly, I never thought that you would feel the same way about me. At first I thought that you helped me for getting revenge on Madara, but over the past year I realized that you genuinely wanted to help me. I was happy to be your friend, just being with you together, made the whole training that I'm going through worthwhile. I would always get happy whenever you praise me or mastering a Jutsu or completing my stances. What I'm trying to say is that. . . Kyuubi-chan . . . I'm . . . I . . . I that I . . . love you too." Naruto said his eyes still sporting his Sharingan shining with emotion.

Naruto watched as Kyuubi's expression gradually changed from nervous and fearful to hopeful before it softened and teared up a bit at Naruto's words before erupting into pure joy at Naruto's ending statement. Kyuubi just hugged him close and after sometime, Naruto plucked up his courage and leaning forward captured her lips in a soft and innocent kiss. They didn't know how long they were laid out on the couch, lying together in each other's arms kissing softly after some time of being apart. They didn't say anything, just enjoying the moment, happy that they would be able to continue doing this for a long time to come.

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Author's Note: I just wanted to inform you guys that this will be the last update for this month. I'm going for a trip and will not have access to the Internet during that time. This story is not going to be abandoned.

The next chapter will have a 3 year Timeskip to 6 months before their graduation.

See Ya!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**Chapter 6**

Tsunade was rushing towards the clearing that Mei and Sakiko had told her about. She had been alarmed when they had told her that they were attacked by a Konoha Ninja, she had looked at their crying, distraught faces as they told her that Naruto was still fighting him, she had immediately shot towards the training ground, Mei and Sakiko hot on her heels.

When she was about to reach, she saw a figure that she recognized immediately. Naruto was walking towards her position. She was filled with relief that he was at least well enough for him to walk, and then she saw him collapse. She reached him and began running a diagnostic check on him. Apart from some internal bleeding, some cracked ribs and a concussion, he was uninjured. She was amazed that he had come out of battle with a Ninja sporting only such injuries. She turned towards Mei and Sakiko who were crying silently, and smiled at them.

"Don't worry girls, Naruto's going to be just fine. He will be back to normal by this time tomorrow." Tsunade said. Tsunade then sensed a chakra signature not far away from their location. She narrowed her eyes.

"Stay here with him, and don't move." She ordered the two girls and continued silently towards the signature.

When she reached the clearing, she saw that there was a lone Ninja, a Jounin, judging by his appearance, that was hunched over on all fours, coughing out blood violently. Tsunade quelled her immediate urge to kill him outright, she needed to question his motives and see if he was acting on his own or was some part of a group.

She walked up to him, questioned him and killed him with a swift strike to his heart. She returned towards where she had left Naruto and together the four of them went home. On arriving, Mei and Sakiko refused to let Naruto out of their sights. Tsunade understood that, they might be training to be a Ninja, but they were still kids. Such an event was bound to change them and strengthen their friendship.

Mei and Sakiko watched as Naruto slept on his bed, Tsunade had offered them to stay the night, and given them rooms. Mei watched as Sakiko watched Naruto crying slightly but with a determined glint in her eye. She knew how she felt, it was the same as she felt. Utterly useless. Naruto had always protected them, be it from harsh words from the villagers or from bullies. He was their best friend and if she was honest to herself, she wished that they could be more than friends. Mei was surprised when Sakiko began to stroke Naruto's hair and them she came to a sudden realization; Sakiko might feel the same way about Naruto as well. After they had shifted in together, they had become the best of friends. She knew that Naruto was the heir to two clans, now she just had to confirm if Konoha had the CRA for bloodline clans with less number of members. If they did she had every intention of dating Naruto. She grinned slightly, she would be having a long talk with Sakiko after they got home.

**Timeskip – Next Morning**

Naruto woke up the next day and was not surprised to see that he was at his house; he was surprised however by the presence of his two friends who had apparently fallen asleep waiting for him to wake up. He was touched by their concern for him, he smiled softly at them and picked them up and placed them on his bed. Just as he turned towards the door, he saw that his Baa-chan was also there in his room, sitting on the couch, her head leaning on her hands, sleeping. He got a devious smirk on his face before he shook his head, this was not the time for a prank, she was probably exhausted after healing him and needed rest, he would have to think of another idea for pranking his Baa-chan. He walked to the bathroom, and did his daily routine but before he left he again activated his Sharingan and saw his reflection. He deactivated it and noticed that his eyes were the same blue that they were before. He was filled with energy and happy, he still couldn't get enough of the fact that Kyuubi-chan loved him as well, and as far as he knew he would be able to date Mei-chan and Sakiko-chan as well after he was named as the head of the clan when he graduated. He and Kyuubi had a long talk about this, while she had said that she didn't mind Naruto taking multiple mates, she had said that Naruto simply couldn't date everyone that Naruto fancied.

Kyuubi had encouraged Naruto to tell Mei and Sakiko everything, including how he felt and about the CRA. From watching Naruto's memories she had picked up subtle hints that pointed to the fact that they definitely liked him as more than a friend, the lingering hugs, contented sighs, and their blushing faces whenever they went swimming together. While she had expected Mei to like Naruto, Sakiko was a surprise as she had barely known Naruto for half a year, but she knew that she liked Naruto as much, if not more so than Mei did. Kyuubi shook her head, with how Naruto was such a kind hearted and gentle soul who was fiercely protective of his friends and family, he would be lucky if he didn't have fangirls of his own. Giggling slightly she went to her bedroom and went to sleep, awaiting Naruto when he came at night.

Oblivious to Kyuubi's thoughts Naruto got out of his room silently, he went down to the kitchen ate some fruit and went down to the training room. He needed to think about his plans, taking in the events of yesterday and more importantly, making sure that he and his friends weren't targeted anymore. They would need to move their training to his own house; he was reluctant to do so before as he didn't know how his friends would feel if they knew that Naruto was much more powerful than them. But after yesterday, his priorities had changed somewhat. Protecting his precious people was what mattered the most to him now. He also wondered what had happened to the Jounin that had attacked them. He was sure that he had not killed him, however he wouldn't be leaving the hospital for at least a month Naruto estimated. Killing was something that Naruto had decided that he would avoid, he understood that he could not become a good Ninja without killing. It was a part of their job, whether they had to kill someone who was a threat or the mission parameters required so.

He was about to start his morning exercises when he was interrupted by Mei and Sakiko calling his name and rushing towards his position. He smiled at them and was tackled by the both of them; they clinged to him and Naruto revelled in the feeling of togetherness. He just returned their hug and kept on reassuring them that he was perfectly fine. After they calmed down he told them to sit down and led them over towards the lake, sitting down he began his tale of his life; he left nothing out, his parents, his bloodlines, he even told them about Kyuubi. Mei and Sakiko listened attentively, they cried at the hardship that their friend had faced so young in his life. They understood that he was a Jinchuuriki, and his own father had been the one that had performed the sealing. They were saddened that he loved Kyuubi, but thought that they were able to mask their emotions from him. Naruto had caught their flash of sadness in their eyes and finished his tale. The three of them were the only ones that knew everything that there was to know about him.

"So the reason that you always train so hard is because Madara was after the Kyuubi and you think that he would come after her again?" Mei asked glancing at Sakiko, wondering how she felt about the situation.

Sakiko held her head down. She couldn't believe that the founder of her clan was still alive and directly responsible for the horrible life of her friend. She couldn't bring herself to look at Naruto.

Naruto picked up on her thoughts and gently placed a hand on her shoulders. "Don't think that I blame the whole Uchiha clan for Madara's actions. Moreover if we see it technically, you aren't going to be a part of that clan for much longer anyway."

"Naruto-kun you said that you had activated your Sharingan, can you show it to us please?" Mei asked.

Naruto activated his Sharingan and both Mei and Sakiko gasped. It looked utterly demonic, but his eyes were so full of life and slight amusement that they didn't think that it was scary. They shuddered to think what they would look like if Naruto truly was angry at anyone and was glaring.

"Amazing. . ." Sakiko whispered.

"Can you help me with my Sharingan as well Naruto-kun."

"Sure . . . starting today I'm going to ask Baa-chan to help with your training as well. Both of you. I'm always going to protect you whenever you are in trouble, and the best way to avoid needing my help would be training to get stronger." Naruto said looking at them intently.

Both Mei and Sakiko nodded happily, and the three of them spent the morning going over their revised training regimen.

In the afternoon Naruto told Tsunade about activating his Sharingan. Tsunade conducted some tests and announced that there were no anomalies with him, compared to his previous tests. Naruto then asked her if she would mind helping him in training his friends as well; Tsunade grumbled about it, but eventually succumbed to Naruto's expectant and happy expression.

Naruto knew that Mei and Sakiko couldn't use the Kage Bunshin training method; they simply didn't have enough chakra for it to be used effectively. But, having small reserves meant that they could they could achieve chakra control much faster than him, keeping this in mind they had decided that over the next three years left for them at the academy, they would train in chakra control, move on to checking their elemental affinities, and then moving on to Elemental Manipulation. Naruto also had almost the same schedule, along with his own training in his mother's Bloodline.

He had so far mastered Tree Walking, Water Walking and had started on using chakra to enhance his speed and muscles for added strength along with routing his chakra to counter blows to his person. The last exercise had helped him in his spars against his clones, while he had an unusually high pain tolerance; he would still prefer to avoid getting hurt if he could. His Taijutsu was coming along great, he had mastered the stances and he just needed to increase his experience in using it. With the help of his clones he had mastered the three Jutsus that he knew, in order to increase his skill with them he would need to train in Elemental Manipulation. Kyuubi had told him that if he were to master his affinities to the extreme, he wouldn't need handsigns for performing his Jutsu's. He had a new idea after he had seen that his friends were exhausted easily after practicing Jutsu's and was brainstorming for ideas with the help of Kyuubi.

Naruto went to sleep that night thinking about the future and his new relationship with Kyuubi-chan.

**With Mei and Sakiko**

Mei and Sakiko had accepted Naruto's offer to stay at his house from now onwards. They were just going to go to their apartment tonight and would bring their possessions to Naruto's house tomorrow morning. Mei and Sakiko walked towards their apartment silently, each lost in their own thoughts. Their day had been nerve wracking but at the end of the day, they each thought that they had come out of it with a better understanding on their goals in life, and what they wanted to do with their lives.

As they arrived home they completed their daily routine before going to bed. Mei snuck into Sakiko's room for a talk that she felt that had been postponed for a long time; she decided that it was time that they talked about their feelings towards their blonde friend.

**Timeskip 2****1/2**** years**

Naruto was walking towards the academy for the final time in his life as its student. He was wearing a blue t-shirt and off white cargo shorts. He completed his attire with a orange hoodie and black sandals. He had a belt hanging loosely around his waist containing a ninja pouch with his throwing weapons. Today he would take the Graduation exam and start his career as a Genin of Konoha. A lot had happened over the past two and a half years. The most significant, at least to Naruto was that he was now engaged to be married to Mei-chan and Sakiko-chan. Although he had a crush on them and had considered dating them he was surprised when the two of them had confessed to him together, the very same day after the attack. Naruto could honestly say that he was truly happy with his life.

He had eventually made friends at the academy as well, most of the clan heirs knew each other and as a result when he made friends with Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi he was inducted into their friend circle. Mei and Sakiko had also made friends with the girls in the class. The teachers had tried their best to actively oppose their intermingling but had failed miserably. Despite the best efforts of the other teachers, Naruto was ranked as the Rookie Of the Year in his class. This was mainly due to their teacher Iruka-sensei who believed in fairness and didn't think of Naruto as the Kyuubi.

As he reached the Academy, he spotted a person that he hadn't seen in well over a year. Uchiha Sasuke had demanded that he be specially trained, and the Council; primarily the Civilian and the Elders had supported his demands. As a result, he had been given a waiver and was assigned a Jounin as his teacher. Naruto looked at his arrogant stance and cocky smirk; it filled him with quiet rage. The bastard had followed through on his threat and had banished Sakiko from the Uchiha Clan as soon as he was made clan head. Sakiko had always said that it didn't bother her and she was happy to be rid of the cursed clan, but had been morose for the next week. Naruto and Mei had helped her and Naruto had said that since she was engaged to him she would belong the Namikaze-Uzumaki clan. She had smiled at Naruto brilliantly and hugged him with all her strength.

As he entered the class, Naruto noticed that his two loves were chatting together and on spotting him waved enthusiastically. Sitting between the two he leaned against the back wall and just closed his eyes. He thought back to everything that he, Mei and Sakiko had learnt. He was at the very least Low Jounin in overall ability and both Mei and Sakiko were Mid-Chunin. He was currently working on the Jounin level chakra control exercises and always trying to maximise his Chakra reserves. His reserves were nearly Kage level and considering that none of it was Kyuubi's Chakra, was pretty impressive. Jiraiya had finally told him the reason that his dad stopped using the Resistance Seal. It was quite simple; he had developed a newer and better seal, that had the properties of both the Gravity Seal and the Resistance Seal without the drawbacks of either. Jiraiya had applied the new seal on Naruto and Naruto couldn't be happier with it, he wouldn't need to wear bulky weights on him, the Gravity Seal took care of it for him and with the resistance seal still functioning, he needn't worry about overall growth. The new seal was similar to his earlier seal and had 50 levels max.

He had grown heaps and bounds with his Ninjutsu training, although he could only complete the Wind Manipulation exercises, and was halfway through the exercises for Water and Lightning Manipulation his wind techniques were something that was best avoided, otherwise you were liable to be torn to shreds. Naruto loves using Wind techniques and was arguably his favourite element. He knew many Jutsu's for Wind Element but the most frequently used by him were the Vacuum techniques.

He was looking forward to today's training as he would hopefully, finally get his Soul Blade. He was brought out of his stupor when his name was called and he went and performed the three required Jutsus to pass the exam. After that the Academy teachers led the students outside and began their sparring exercises, grades were awarded based upon the length and quality of the spar, Naruto, Mei, Sakiko and Sasuke along with most of the clan heirs had no trouble in beating the evaluator and at the end both Sasuke and Naruto were tied for the spot of Rookie Of the Year.

"I refuse to accept this worthless wannabe Ninja as the Rookie of the Year, the title should belong to me." Sasuke stated arrogantly.

There were many squeals and shouts from the Emo's fangirls supporting his statement. Naruto just shook his head, he suspected that only the clan heirs and a few others were liable to even make it as a ninja. He had expected such behaviour from the Uchiha and had a perfect plan to take him down a few pegs and take revenge for how the bastard had treated Sakiko as well.

"Why don't we spar Uchiha, right here, right now, winner gets to be the rookie. What do you say?" Naruto asked while looking at him challengingly.

Sasuke was sneering arrogantly at Naruto, "Fine, but we play by my rules. . ."

Sasuke decided on an all-out spar, where anything goes except killing your opponent. Naruto couldn't help but smirk at Sasuke's naiveté. His arrogance would be his downfall.

Iruka looked as if he was reluctant for this to happen but had eventually given in when Sasuke's fangirls had started cheering loudly and the deal was sealed when Mizuki agreed.

Naruto and Sasuke stood opposite each other, Sasuke was in the stance of the Uchiha Taijutsu style, the Interceptor. It relied on predicting your opponent's movement and was supplemented by the Sharingan.

Naruto adopted the standard Academy Style as he didn't want to injure the arrogant prick too badly; if that happened, the Civilian Council would not let him live in peace.

Mizuki started the fight and Sasuke immediately started going through several handseals before announcing his Jutsu shouting Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique) and blew out a moderately sized fireball in Naruto's direction. Sasuke smirked victoriously.

Naruto stared calmly at the approaching fireball; he had dealt with far worse than this in his spars against Jiraiya. He noticed the cocky smirk upon the Uchiha's face and grinned. He was so going to enjoy the following next moments. He rapidly flashed through handsigns and whispered; Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Release: Gunshot). Water rose up from the nearby fountain and formed a globe of water before it shot towards the approaching fireball. The two collided violently and steam rose up from the point of collision, but eventually water won out and headed towards the surprised Uchiha. Although it had lost majority of its power it still drenched him to the bone and pushed him backwards quite a bit. Snarling, Sasuke lunged himself at Naruto and began engaging him in hand to hand. He soon realized that no matter what he did he was unable to get past Naruto's guard. Changing tactics he crouched down and swept his legs hoping to catch Naruto and trip him. Naruto anticipated this and stepped back slightly avoiding the sweep and dashed forward towards the awkwardly positioned Uchiha. Initiating a combo, he punched Sasuke three times; two in his stomach and one on his chest and then finished it off with a solid kick to his back. Sasuke was hurled towards one of the trees and after impact slowly slid down, gritting his teeth in pain, glaring up at him.

"What's the matter Sasuke? Am I a bit too much for you to handle hmmm?" Naruto taunted.

Sasuke again tried and was subsequently thrown towards the same tree.

Naruto walked up closer to him and whispered, so that only Sasuke could hear what he was saying. "This is for Sakiko-chan." He threw four kunai forming a diamond pattern around him and slowly performed handsigns and almost lazily stated Raiton:Kaminari Shibari (Lightning Release: Thunder Binding).

A wall of lightning rose up in the same pattern of the previously thrown Kunai and Sasuke who was already wet, was struck by Naruto's lightning Jutsu. He screamed for some while before slumping into unconsciousness.

Naruto stared at the prone form of the Uchiha for sometime before he turned to face his spluttering classmates. He saw that both Mei and Sakiko had happy smiles on their faces and Sakiko mouthed a quick 'Thank You'.

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka said feeling a bit proud, he was his student after all.

Iruka then handed him his Konoha Headband. As a rookie he was given a different headband than the others. His had the plate finished in black metal and the leaf symbol was carved in silver. He chose a black cloth to tie the headband on his upper left arm.

"Man you totally smoked that bastard's ass Naruto . . . way to go. Remind me to not get on your bad side." Kiba said as he came and thumped him on his back.

"Meh, someone had to do it, the bastard was getting too big in the head."

Naruto then spent some time talking with Kiba, Chouji and Shikamaru before Mei and Sakiko came up to him and the three of them said their goodbye's and started towards his house. Halfway there, Mei suddenly jumped up at Naruto's back and acting on instinct, he caught her. Mei rested her head on Naruto's shoulder and closed her eyes in comfort. Sakiko silently berated herself for not thinking of doing the same thing. Naruto just shrugged and the three of them were on their way.

"Baa-chan we're home!" Naruto called and gently deposited Mei who had amazingly fallen asleep on the couch.

"Welcome home Naruto-kun." Shizune answered. "Rookie of the year huh? Not surprising." She then stepped towards Naruto and ruffled his hair, smiling at the outraged expression on his face.

"Congratulations Naruto-kun." Shizune said and then hugged him.

Naruto's expression changed in an instant and he returned the hug, "Thanks Nee-chan."

Shizune then stepped away and hugged Sakiko as well.

"You should have seen him Shizune-san, he practically wiped the floor with that prick." Sakiko was smiling brilliantly.

"Oh do tell. . ."

Seeing as the both of them were not liable to stop talking anytime soon, he walked towards his room and thought about the training that he would do today. He had already requested the Hokage to place him, Mei and Sakiko on the same team with any Jounin Sensei of his choice. While the Hokage would have a hard time convincing the council for the unusual team structure, it was not beyond his capabilities. Naruto then took a shower, donned his training clothes and proceeded towards the training ground in his basement.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**Chapter 7**

Naruto sat down underneath the waterfall, meditated, and soon found himself in his mindscape. He looked around and on not finding Kyuubi anywhere, figured that she might still be asleep. He entered his house and found her soundly sleeping in what was his room in the real world, and was Kyuubi's room in his Mindscape.

She was sleeping soundly, hugging a pillow shaped as a fox close to her. Naruto gently got on the bed so as to not wake her up, "Kyuu-chan. . . Kyuu-chan, wake up." Whispering softly in her ear.

"**Mmhmm. . . wha. . ."** Kyuubi yawned cutely and saw Naruto beside her and blushed slightly at his closeness. She then smiled and promptly grabbed him, laid him down and snuggling closer to him, rested her head on his chest.

"You need to get up Kyuu-chan, you said that we'll begin training in my mother's bloodline today." Naruto said reluctantly, enjoying their closeness himself.

"**Just stay like this for five more minutes Naruto-kun**" Kyuubi said barely hanging on to her consciousness.

"Sure. . ." Naruto said before he kissed the top of her head and rested. Barely two minutes after that both of them were sleeping soundly.

The both of them woke up after nearly an hour, they got out of bed and donned their training clothes. Although they could have just wished for it, they preferred to do things mundanely, using the time to wake up properly. He told her of his day, making her laugh silly after she heard what he did to the Uchiha. She softly kissed him on the lips to congratulate him on his graduation and as the rookie no less.

Walking towards the lake; their favourite training place they both sat down and Kyuubi explained what Naruto had to do.

"WHAT . . . you mean to say that I have to stab myself in the heart. What if I fail and don't manage to acquire the sword? Will I die?" Naruto asked frantically bordering on the edge of hysteria.

"**Calm down Naruto-kun. Do you honestly think that I would advise you to do something that could even potentially hurt you never mind kill you? You are smarter than this Naruto-kun."** Kyuubi said as she reached over and laid a comforting hand on his knees.

"I know that Kyuu-chan, but you can't tell me that stabbing yourself in your heart cannot be even a little disconcerting. So what happens to those who fail?" Naruto asked.

"**Nothing much, they will obviously need medical attention for the stab wound but your heart will not be damaged. Your mother told me that the heart mends itself rapidly, thus leaving the person with only minor injuries. If you succeed, you will enter your interpretation of your soul where you will meet your Blade."**

"Meet my . . . Blade?" Naruto asked confused. Kyuubi hadn't told him about this earlier preferring to keep her teaching of new techniques as a surprise.

"**Yes. Your blade will manifest itself into whatever form most resembles its powers. Whatever happens after that is unique to every person and is usually decided by your Blade.**" Kyuubi said.

"Do you think I should tell anyone about this? It seems too risky, they would never allow me to do this, and I would feel better if either Baa-chan or Nee-chan were there to observe if anything were to go wrong." Naruto asked.

"**Hmm. . ."** Kyuubi pondered over Naruto's choices. Telling either Mei or Sakiko about this was out of the question. They were too overprotective of him. Although Naruto didn't need it, it always warmed his heart whenever they stood up for him. They reacted quite harshly against anyone that either threatened, made fun of or god forbid, hurt him. Mei would reacted immediately, and would either hurt or reduce them to tears with her words. Sakiko was more subtle, making her much more dangerous; she had a bit more control though, she didn't anger easily but her fury was not to be trifled with.

Shizune was a valid choice, but she was always against his harsh training to begin with. She understood his reasons and respected him for it, but she just couldn't bring herself to see him as a warrior. To her he was just her cute little brother who she was entitled to spoil rotten. She cared for him after any training accident and would hover around him for the next few days. Once when training with Jiraiya, he had gone overboard and had ended up breaking his arm and knocking him unconscious. The tongue lashing that he had received was one for the record books and she had ended her rant with a solid kick to his balls, leaving the perverted Sannin gasping and whimpering on the ground. They had wisely chosen to refrain from telling Tsunade about it as she would have pounded Jiraiya to paste for hurting her godson.

Jiraiya would be perfect, but he couldn't keep a secret from Tsunade to save his life. She would immediately come to know about it whether he wanted to tell her or not. Add in the fact that the concerned party was Naruto himself, and you have a situation that you would rather not deal with. Jiraiya who had remained an active Ninja was much more aware of the threat and would often train Naruto to the bone. His perviness aside, he was like a cool uncle to Naruto.

Looking at the choices, Tsunade was their best choice although convincing her would be a humungous task. She would likely refuse, but Naruto would take his chances.

"**I think that telling Tsunade would be the best choice Naruto-kun**" Kyuubi said after a while.

Naruto sighed. "I figured as much, Nee-chan would freak, and the girls wouldn't let me out of their sights for even a minute for the next week if I were to tell them. They can be quite bothersome that way." Naruto said smiling fondly.

"So then what do we do in the meantime?" Naruto asked.

"**Why don't we go for a swim and after that we could catch up on our sleep?"** Kyuubi said already beginning to take off her clothes.

"Wha. . .What are you doing Kyuu-chan?" Naruto stuttered standing up quickly and turning away from her, his face turning bright red. He heard some shuffling noises and then felt her hands go under his raised ones as she pulled him flush against her and resting her mouth near his ear whispered, **"Just changing into my swimsuit Naruto-kun."**

Naruto turned around and saw that she was indeed dressed. He looked at her triumphant face and realized that he had just been pranked. Kyuubi just stuck her tongue out at him and dashed into the water giggling the whole way.

**Timeskip - That Night**

Naruto was standing nervously in front of Tsunade's room. He knocked, which was unusual for him. Usually he just barged in. Hearing a muffled 'Come in' he opened the door and saw that she was reading one of the scrolls and taking notes.

Tsunade looked up from her reading to see Naruto shuffling from the doorway. She wondered what was bothering him, he wasn't his usual self. She got up from her seat a concerned look on her face. "What's wrong Naruto-kun? Are you feeling well?"

"Baa-chan I need a favour. It has to do with my training. . ." and Naruto told her what he had to do in order to train further in his mother's bloodline.

"I refuse! Naruto you are taking a huge risk, however small the repercussions might be, I forbid you to . . . to stab yourself. Have you gone mad?" Tsunade asked shaking Naruto slightly.

"But I need you to do this for me Baa-chan; you are the only one that I trust that even has the chance of allowing me to do this. And besides, due to my regeneration the wound will probably heal itself. I am just asking you to be there as a precaution." Naruto asked his voice full of determination.

Tsunade sighed at seeing the determination shining in his eyes, even if she refused, she knew that Naruto would just do this as soon as he was able to give them all the slip. He was a master at hiding whenever he didn't want to be found.

"Fine Naruto-kun, but please think this through." Tsunade stated and swiped at her eyes turning away from him, making a shooing motion towards the door.

"Don't worry baa-chan; I'll still be around to annoy you for a long time to come." Naruto said softly before he stepped away and went on his way.

Tsunade laughed softly, Naruto could be pretty dense sometimes but would always say thing that strike away your insecurities. She was always worried that she had been cursed to have her loved ones taken away from her. When Shizune had informed Naruto of this he had sat down with her and had a long talk. She had stared incredulously at him when he had systematically shown her his point of view on the things that she had been blaming herself for. It didn't cast off her fears completely, but she felt as if a huge load had been lifted from her, both of them had come out of the situation with a better understanding of themselves and each other and had cemented their relationship.

"Damn brat. . ." she said smiling.

Naruto then spent the rest of the evening with Mei and Sakiko, they trained some, had dinner and had fun with Shizune. All of them had noticed a slight change in Naruto's behaviour but didn't comment on it, figuring that if it was important enough, he would tell them.

That night, after everyone had gone to sleep Naruto and Tsunade made their way down to the training ground. When they reached there they were surprised to see Shizune standing there, arms folded across her chest and a just staring at them.

Naruto wondered what she was doing here. He knew that when Tsunade promised him that she wouldn't tell anyone, she meant it.

"Hey there Nee-chan, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked casually.

"Drop the act Naruto-kun. I saw the way you were acting the whole evening, and after that when I went to ask Tsunade something there was something off about her as well. I have known you for more than 2 years Naruto-kun. Now tell me why you are here and what are you hiding." Shizune huffed.

"Quite smart aren't you Nee-chan?" Naruto sighed. He then proceeded to tell her about his training plan for today. He was surprised when she immediately didn't reject the idea and march him to his room. His surprise must have shown on his face because she smiled sadly at him.

"You are an official Ninja now Naruto-kun, all that I can do now is advise you and help you, I can't stop you from training in whatever way you like; I never could really, but I liked to think that I could. Just promise me one thing Naruto-kun, please never leave out what you are training in because you think I won't approve." Shizune said.

Naruto felt a rush of affection towards Shizune, he just smiled at her and walked away from them and stood in a clearing. Taking Kyuubi's advice he released his Chakra and Gravity Seal. Controlling his sudden burst of chakra, he breathed out and got ready, taking a standard Katana he took a deep breath and stabbed it clean through his torso, impaling his heart.

Tsunade and Shizune were expecting Naruto to do this, but they couldn't resist the gasp that escaped from their lips. They grabbed onto each other, whether to stop the other or themselves they didn't know. They saw as blood dripped from the fatal wound, dribbling onto the ground. Then there was a sudden explosion of chakra and they were amazed to see that the sword impaling him simply vanished into particles of black light.

They began to approach him, not sure if his training was complete or not. Just as they were about to come near him, his chakra exploded out of him, surrounding him preventing anyone from interfering.

**With Naruto**

As soon as Naruto had stabbed himself, the world stopped around him, leaves on the trees stopped swaying, ripples in the lake froze in their place and everywhere he looked, he could only see himself as the only thing irrespective of whether it was alive or dead that was moving. He saw numbly as his Chakra swirled around him and formed a sort of protective barrier. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and he closed his eyes trying to ignore the pain.

When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was in a vast expanse of small hills covered in grass and could see that it was night time. The moon was bigger than he ever remembered seeing and was a sinister shade of red. Huge mountains whose peaks were hidden by storm clouds could be seen in the distance. He was lying on his back facing upwards and he noticed that there was not even a single star to be seen.

"Hello Naruto."

Naruto quickly flipped onto his feet and looked at the person who made the sound. He was clothed in a tattered black hooded cloak that was fraying out into tattered ends; his hood was hiding his face from view. He was slightly taller than Naruto, his body built for speed.

"Who are you? And where are we?" Naruto asked his senses on high alert.

"I'm your sword Naruto. Whether you are worthy of wielding me or not has yet to be seen." 

Saying that, he lifted his hood and revealed his face. He was fairly young, maybe in his late teens. He had long ragged black hair, but had no other distinguishing features about him. He bent down on his knees and placed his open palm on to the grass.

Naruto sensed him concentrating his power and suddenly, the whole ground for as far as he could see there were various types of blades sticking out of the ground. He grabbed a sword near him pulling it out and swinging it a few times.

"Choose your blade Naruto." He said as he slowly walked towards him.

Naruto looked around; there was nothing around him that he was familiar using. Deciding to test the waters a bit, he took out two Kunai and held them in each of his hands. He looked towards the person standing in front of him and noticed a look of disappointment on his face.

"Let us begin." Saying that, he simply vanished from Naruto's sight. Naruto, sensing an attack from his right, ducked below just as the blade passed over him, still crouching he pivoted on his hands and tried to kick him, but he vanished again.

'This is going to be a long fight.' Naruto thought.

Naruto again sensed him, this time slightly behind his right side; he turned around and slashed at him. He noticed the look of surprise on the man's face and smirked slightly.

"It seems that you are well trained Naruto. That's good; it would make my job much easier. Choose a blade Naruto, one of the countless blades that you see before you is your Soul Blade. Find it and you will come to know my name, know my name and you will succeed in you training."

Naruto again looked around; closing his eyes he tried to find a connection, a gut feeling, anything that would help him complete this training. He felt a pulse, but it didn't come from any particular direction.

"Prepare yourself."

Snapping his eyes open, Naruto picked up the nearest blade. The man just vanished again.

Naruto had spent upwards of approximately three hours fighting, what he figured, was his blade. He had lost count of the number of times that he had picked up a sword that was shattered by him. Although he had begun to last longer with each subsequent broken blade, getting used to fighting with it, he couldn't figure out the pulsing that he felt. It had been growing stronger with time, to the point that he was getting seriously distracted by its presence. He glanced around himself; he could hardly believe that he had used up almost all the swords here, there was only one left. He had been using his Sharingan for quite some time now and it had enabled him to fight the man on somewhat even grounds, even with his inexperience in handling blades.

Naruto knew that he had to finish this fight quickly, he didn't have much energy left and he had received multiple cuts and numerous scratches throughout his fight. Although he could now track his opponent's movement much better than he had been able to when he had started off, he was getting exhausted. He glanced towards the sword; it was an axe type halberd. Naruto picked it up sighing with relief, he figured that this was his sword and finally this pulsating feeling he was feeling could stop.

He blocked a sideways slash to his chest, using his other hand to reinforce his guard and pushed the offending blade away. The man stumbled slightly as he was pushed backwards. Capitalising on the situation, Naruto dashed forward and jumped high landing towards the man's position as he held the halberd downwards.

The man looked up at him and swung his sword at Naruto's weapon directly. Much to the surprise of Naruto, this weapon shattered under the strong strike as well.

"It seems that you have not found your blade Naruto. I'm sorry Naruto, but it's time for you to die. Pity, you wouldn't be able to fulfil your dream now isn't it, Naruto."

Naruto quelled his anger at his opponent's mocking tone, it would not serve him well if he were to loose his temper in this fight. The pulsing feeling within him got even stronger, and it was then that Naruto understood. Concentrating on bringing out the feeling he gasped slightly as a wonderful feeling of completion filled him. He looked down at his hand and gazed at his sword. It truly was a work of art.

It was a daitō (Japanese Long Sword) with a black blade; the crossguard had four protrusions bent in the shape of an Indian Swastika. The hilt of the sword was wrapped in rough edges in black colour with a short length of chain hanging from its end.

He looked up at his opponent and now it was his turn to gasp, Naruto's eyes were alight with an unearthly glow that further emphasised his Sharingan, bringing the three black tomoe in sharp contrast against the golden eye. He saw as Naruto concentrated his power, making his chakra swirl around him, its colour slightly changed. It was now completely pitch black, so dark that it seemed to suck the light around it. On the edges it was tinted with a dark crimson colour. He watched as Naruto was encased in his own chakra, a pillar of dark light extending upwards. As the chakra spike died down, he saw Naruto approaching him, much like he had earlier.

"It would seem that you have finally found your Blade Naruto. I hereby accept you as my wielder and master, go forth Naruto and proudly call out my name . . ." 

**Meanwhile. . .**

Shizune and Tsunade were nervously waiting for a sign, anything that would help them determine Naruto's condition. They were startled out of their thoughts when Naruto's Chakra spiked once before dying out completely. They saw that other than looking a little worse for wear, he had no other apparent injuries and the katana that he had stabbed himself with and the subsequent wound was nowhere to be seen, sighing in relief they had almost reached him when they were blown away by his Chakra, having been caught off-guard. They watched in slack jawed amazement as Naruto's Chakra was released to its fullest potential, although it had gone through an unusual colour change. As the Chakra died down, they saw as Naruto unsteadily got up on his feet and holding out his right arm in front of him whispered, Tensa Zangetsu (Heavenly Chain Slaying Moon). They watched amazed as small particles of Naruto's Chakra seemed to make a rough shape of a sword before Naruto swiped his hands to his side, revealing his blade to them.

"Hey Nee-chan, Baa-chan I completed my exercise and you didn't even have to heal me. Shizune ran forward towards him and began checking him all over for injuries and finding nothing that his regeneration couldn't handle just gave him a hug to congratulate him.

The three of them then proceeded out of the training grounds listening to Naruto's training and then turned in for the night after Naruto had dispelled his blade.

A/N: Please visit my profile and vote for the poll. It will help me make a decision as to how I should write the story henceforth. If anyone has any ideas or have a particular scene in mind that they would like to see, just Review and maybe if it doesn't interfere much with my ideas I may take it up.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**Chapter 8**

**The Next Morning**

Naruto woke up the next morning and the first thing that he did was to call his blade to him, it appeared before him looking as if it was his chakra that was making the blade. Smiling, that it was simply not just a dream he bounded off to get ready for the day. They had a two day holiday at the academy, during this time the results of the tests were evaluated and a complete report was submitted to the Hokage. He then decided the team placements according to what type of a team it would be, whether it was a Tracker team, Assault team or an Infiltration team. Naruto had already met him and the Hokage had promised Naruto his team request, but he had laid a condition that he would only claim his Clan Head status after he made Chunin.

Naruto knew why the Hokage wanted to delay his coronation as Clan Head. He had neglected to inform the Hokage about his true level of skill; he thought that Naruto was High-Genin in skills with unusually high Chakra Reserves. But delaying the coronation would mean that he wouldn't be able to ask Mei-chan and Sakiko-chan to be his wives today as he had planned.

So he had refused his condition and had played the guilt card on him. Twenty minutes later he was walking out the Hokage tower with official papers naming him as the Clan Head of the Namikaze and the Uzumaki clans. He knew that once the council came to know of this, they would fight tooth and nail to reverse it; too bad that the Hokage had been granted temporary control of the Namikaze clan and he had declared Naruto as the next Clan Head.

Shaking his head out of his thoughts, Naruto got up and went towards his wardrobe, performing a few handseals and then biting his thumb, he smeared some blood on the underside of the drawer. A scroll appeared in a puff of smoke. He again went through the same procedure, but with different handsigns and there were two jewellery boxes. Naruto had pondered his girl's small chakra reserves for a long time, although they were much stronger than a Genin's almost Mid-Chunin, they were still low compared to him. If they were to survive in the Ninja world as his mates, they would need to grow stronger. Naruto would never forgive himself if any harm were to come to them due to him. They knew this and had always taken their training seriously.

In order to help them increase their Chakra reserves, he had designed these rings. They were similar to the diamond that Baa-chan had in her forehead. This was where he had gotten the idea for this particular seal. But unlike Tsunade's diamond which directly influenced the cells of her body allowing her to rapidly heal herself from virtually any wound, be it fatal or not. It was the reason that she would always say that she would never die in battle.

The seal Naruto had created, allowed the user to store their excess chakra over time into the ring and when in a pinch, they could release the seal and the chakra stored in it would be directly released into their Chakra Circulatory System. He was planning to propose to them after the date that he planned to take them on today.

Both rings were made of Chakra conductive Platinum, the seal had been inscribed in intricate patterns on both the sides of the ring; Mei's ring had the engravings in Emerald stones and Sakiko's in Rubies. He had offered a ring to Kyuubi as well but she had just stated that she would be happy to carry his mate mark and didn't need any rings. Naruto had blushed on hearing that, and had changed the topic as soon as he could.

**Timeskip - That Evening**

The trio of newly minted ninja had gone out on a date to celebrate their graduation. The date had gone great, they had gone to Ichiraku's to have dinner and after that Naruto had escorted them to the top of the Hokage mountain. They were sitting down, with both of the girls leaning comfortably on Naruto on either side of him.

Pushing them away slightly, Naruto got up and motioned for them to do the same. He smiled inwardly at their slightly confused looks. As they stood up and approached him, he got down to one knee and proposed to them.

"Mei-chan, you were the only person aside from Kyuubi-chan who acknowledged me. You remained my friend even though it made your life difficult. I would be honoured if you would agree to spend the rest of your life with me. Sakiko-chan, even though I came to know you after Mei-chan, you are just as precious to me as she is. You always helped me get through my difficulties and accepted me as your friend. I promise to protect the both of you with everything that I have. Terumi Mei, Sakiko-chan will you marry me?"

Both the girls had tears brimming in their eyes. Silently, they nodded and swallowed through the lump in their throat and said a shaky yes.

They gasped as they saw their rings, and extended their hands. Naruto slipped the rings on their hands and kissed their hands lovingly.

After he got up he was hugged enthusiastically by the both of them. Sakiko leaned forward and captured his lips in a soft kiss followed by Mei. They spent the rest of the night atop the heads of the previous Hokage's heads and. The girls would occasionally tilt their hands in different directions, admiring their new rings. Naruto told them the special properties of the ring and they went home walking happily, the girls with a skip in their step.

Shizune, who was hiding in the trees surrounding the area that they were in smiled happily, Naruto had approached her enquiring about how he should handle the date tonight. She was proud of how her little brother had handled the situation.

"You know Nee-chan, I really don't appreciate you spying on me."

Shizune barely held in the scream that wanted to erupt from her lips. She looked up from her hiding position, and saw Naruto leaning against the tree on a higher branch. Shizune smiled sheepishly, "I just wanted to see how your date went."

"I'm sure. . .well anyway, they are heading home now, you should too." Saying that, Naruto went up in a puff of smoke.

'_I didn't even notice him; I wonder how long he knew I was here?_' Shizune thought.

Walking down the road, Naruto smiled.

**Timeskip - The Next Day**

Naruto, Mei and Sakiko made their way to the academy to know their team placements. Naruto hadn't informed them of the deal that he had made with the Hokage, intending to surprise them. They were a little late to arrive at the academy; they had stayed up late last night discussing their plans and life in general. They had decided that they would only trust their designated Sensei after they had made sure that they could be trusted, until that time they would limit the skills that they would show, especially Naruto.

When they entered they saw that the whole class was assembled and was staring at them. Shrugging, they went up to the usual spot in the classroom, and waited for their teacher to come in. Sitting down, Naruto felt a heated glare directed in his direction and looked up to see the Uchiha glaring at him. He was still covered in bandages from their last fight. He saw as he got up and approached his position, Naruto, unnoticed by anyone tensed slightly.

"Dobe, I demand that you teach me the Jutsu's that you used against me. As an Uchiha, who specialize in Ninjutsu, I have the right to know every Jutsu that you know. If you disagree, I can make your life very difficult, the council will do anything to please me." Sasuke stated arrogantly.

'_Man, he has all the subtlety of a Bijuu in the middle of Konoha in broad daylight._' Naruto thought.

"Oh. . . Anything you say hmm. . . ?" Naruto said suggestively.

Sasuke turned red with anger, but just then Iruka entered and told them to settle down.

"I would watch your back dobe, this isn't over."

"You are welcome to try anytime bastard."

"Alright class quiet down!" shouted Iruka.

He then proceeded to give a lengthy speech of what it meant to be a Ninja. He proceeded to tell them his experiences, but seeing half the class sleeping and the rest of them chatting again he sighed and proceeded to announce the team placements.

Naruto didn't pay any attention to majority of the names being announced but he made a note of the placements of the clan Heir's.

Sasuke and his number one fan-girl Haruno Sakura along with a boy named Sai was composed of Team 7, Team 8 was Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino, Team 10 was Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru.

Naruto was keeping a close eye on Mei and Sakiko while the teams were being announced, he saw as they were relieved that none of them were on a team with the Uchiha, and as the teams were announced they grew excited, glancing at each other and then at Naruto. As Team 10 was announced, they looked around the class once before squealing and jumped at Naruto, hugging him.

"Naruto-kun, you had something to do with this right?" Mei asked sweetly.

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." Naruto said cheekily.

Mei and Sakiko smiled happily and squeezing him a final time went to their own seats.

"And as you might have guessed, Team 11 will be Terumi Mei, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sakiko." Iruka said.

"You seem to have got the names wrong, she doesn't belong to the Uchiha clan, I banished her from the clan last month." Sasuke stated with a smirk.

"Yes Sensei, I don't belong to that worthless clan anymore. I am now a part of the Uzumaki Clan, as Naruto-kun's wife." Sakiko said happily.

"Me too." Mei chimed in.

The whole class as well as Iruka were gaping at the three of them, doing a perfect impersonation of a fish.

" Erhm. . . Anyway. . . you will meet your Jounin Sensei's this afternoon, after lunch. Dismissed."

Mei and Sakiko were cornered by their friends asking about this new development, and they moved out to the grounds.

**Timeskip - Lunch **

The whole class was assembled waiting for their Jounin Sensei's to arrive. Naruto sensed someone approaching the classroom and the door opened to reveal 10 Jounins. Three of them stood out the most.

The first was a man of approximately 6' 3" and had brown eyes, short black spiky hair and beard. His clothing consisted of the standard Konoha ninja uniform with the sleeves rolled up. He also wore a flak jacket, regular Ninja sandals and forehead protector. He also wore the Ninja sash around his waist with the kanji for "Fire" (火) marked on it, a bracelet on both of his wrists and bandages on both arms of his outfit. He had a cigarette in his mouth and appeared bored.

The second person was a woman who was quite beautiful, Naruto observed. She had long and black, shoulder-length untamed hair, and very unique eyes that are red in colour, with an additional ring in them. She was wearing make-up consisting of red lipstick and purple eye shadow. She was wearing a red mesh armour blouse with only the right sleeve visible. Over this is very broad material which resembles bandages with a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs were also wrapped in bandages and she wore the Konoha forehead protector and regular Ninja sandals. She appeared to be quite strict and when she looked at Hinata, she gave her a faint smile.

The third person was surprising to most of the people in the class. She didn't appear to be much older than them 15-16 years old at the most. She like most competent Kunoichi was in top shape and quite attractive. She had purple violet, straight hair reaching down to her waist and chocolate brown eyes. She was wearing a soft layer of reddish-purple lipstick, which went well with her hair and skin tone. She was dressed in a skin tight black, full sleeved shirt and wore the flak jacket above it. She was also wearing grey tights that went up to her mid-thigh. She wore her forehead protector as a makeshift bandana, covering the top of her head, her hair falling down the sides. She wore black ninja sandals as her footwear. He noticed that, her forehead protector was the same as his, implying that she was also the top Ninja of her batch. The thing that intrigued Naruto the most however, was the sword that was strapped to her back; it was a daitō (Japanese Long Sword), the same type of sword as him. She appeared to be quite nervous but hid it well; he doubted that anyone else would have noticed it.

As the Jounins began taking their assigned students away, amazingly enough, she was the one that approached their group.

"Team 11?." She asked inclining her head in their direction. The three of them nodded. "Follow me." Saying that, she turned around and walked out of the class. Mei and Sakiko looked at Naruto who shrugged and proceeded to follow him.

They travelled atop the rooftops, and ended their journey at a standard nondescript training ground. Their Jounin instructor motioned for them to sit down.

"Now then, I'm sure that you have a lot of questions. But before you ask them, why don't we introduce ourselves? I'll start." Their instructor stated.

"My name is Yugao Uzuki, I like training and reading novels, I dislike people who take things for granted and people who lie to me. I don't have any particular dislikes other than that. My dream is to become the best Kenjutsu mistress in Konoha and to raise a family. Why don't you go next Mei-san?"

"Alright, My name is Terumi Mei, but you can all me Uzumaki Mei as well. I love Naruto-kun, Sakiko-chan and my adoptive family. I like training as well, and also lazing around in the hot springs and swimming. I dislike arrogance, in anyone. I also don't like those who treat Naruto-kun badly and old perverts. My dream is to master my bloodline and be the best Ninja that I can be, also to have many kids with Naruto-kun." Mei said with a faint blush on her cheeks and winked at Naruto.

"**You are going to have my babies first Naruto-kun, and only after that can Mei-chan stake her claim." **Kyuubi said to Naruto. Naruto immediately blushed deep red and started spluttering nonsense.

"Ah. . . well, moving on, Sakiko-san, if you would." Yugao said seeing as Naruto was incapable of coherent thought at the moment.

"My name is Uzumaki Sakiko. I love Naruto-kun, and his family. I like to spend time with him doing training, and other stuff. I dislike the Uchiha clan, and bullies. My dream is to become the best Medical Ninja, rivalling Tsunade of the Sannin, and also be a good wife to Naruto-kun. I also want to help Naruto-kun achieve his dream as well." Sakiko stated happily looking directly at Naruto.

"Admirable goals. Now lastly Naruto-kun." Yugao said.

Sakiko and Mei both glanced at Yugao when she said this, noting it for future reference. There was something that she was not telling them.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I love my future wives, and my family. I like training, and am starting on Kenjutsu, I also like to write novels of my own. I dislike anyone who harms my family, and also stuck up pricks. I hate politics. My dream is to restore my Clan, and make it the strongest clan in Konoha and making my parents proud." Naruto said with a determined glint in his eyes.

"Very nice. Meet me at this place tomorrow morning at 7, I will administer the Genin test and see if you are Ninja material." Yugao said. She was surprised when they didn't question her on her statement. She had asked her Jounin sensei what he had meant, and expected them to do the same. Her confusion must have shown on her face because Naruto said, "We already know that Yugao-sensei. Konoha always tests the Academy graduates to see if they are capable of working together as a team."

"Well. . .ah It appears that you have already passed the test, but I still need to test your abilities so let's meet here tomorrow." Yugao said. She needed to speak to the Hokage.

The three of them nodded and proceeded to go to their home, for some rest and relaxation and then some light sparring later.

When they got home, Naruto was surprised to see Jiraiya there. Both Mei and Sakiko made excuses to be elsewhere. It was not that they hated him or something, they thought that he was plain weird, and much too perverted for their likes.

"Hey brat, heard you were now an official Ninja of Konoha. Congratulations, your life is now owned by the Hokage." Jiraiya said in full hermit mode, nodding his head seriously.

"Yo! Ero-Sennin, what are you doing back in Konoha?" Naruto asked.

"Damnit brat, stop calling me that." Jiraiya shouted.

"I'll do that as soon as you stop peeking on girls in the hot springs." Naruto deadpanned.

"Like that's going to happen." Jiraiya huffed.

"My point exactly. . ." Naruto smirked, laughing at Jiraiya's face after he fell for the obvious trap.

"Anyway, as promised I am going to teach you Minato's signature technique, the Rasengan (Spiralling Sphere)" Jiraiya stated pompously. He dug into his pockets and handed him a scroll.

"That has all the things that you will need to learn the Rasengan. I would teach you myself, but I have learnt that you work best when working by yourself. All that you need is guidance. But if you need help, just wait until the next time we meet. I really can't afford to lose more time here. See ya around brat." Jiraiya walked off saying that.

'_Ooh_ _boy, it's been a long time since I have been to the Konoha hot springs, duty calls_.' Jiraiya thought giggling perversely as he rushed to find an undetectable peeking spot.

Naruto would have called Jiraiya on his lame excuse, but was busy reading the description of the technique. There was a basic explanation of the Jutsu added by handwritten notes, presumably written by Jiraiya. While reading, Naruto was walking towards the Training grounds.

The Rasengan is chakra that has been rotated and then compressed into the shape of a sphere. It Rasengan does not require any hand seals to use, relying only on the chakra control of the user. Once it is complete, it becomes self-sustaining, which does not give the Rasengan a definite limit like some other Jutsus. The compacted nature and moving speed of the chakra allows the Rasengan to grind into whatever it comes in contact with to inflict major damage. This tends to launch the target backward after being hit or, if the target is lying on the ground or being launched to the ground, the destructive force is enough to form a crater.

Naruto practically had drool coming out of his mouth as he read the description. He skimmed through the document, while having his Sharingan active. He had discovered that when he had it activated he had photographic memory, which he mused must be necessary to copy stuff.

Jiraiya had broken down the learning process into three simple steps; he had added a note saying that, if Naruto truly wanted to master the Jutsu, he would need to follow the steps religiously.

Naruto read the first step. It required that he be able to completely burst open a water balloon using his chakra only. Jiraiya had written that by spinning the water inside in multiple directions at once using only the user's chakra, it would be possible. This step emphasizes rotation.

Naruto excitedly got out a scroll that Jiraiya gave him, and unsealed it to find a whole carton full of water balloons. Naruto then created 200 clones and directed them to fill all the balloons and gather them in a pile, after doing that they dispelled and Naruto began training to learn the Rasengan.

A/N: Please cast in your votes at the poll on my profile page and send in your ideas on how you want to see this story proceed, I might give your ideas a try.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**Chapter 9**

Naruto had been trying to complete the first step for three hours now, he had made progress in bursting the balloon but it still took him a lot of time. This was much more difficult than the other Chakra Exercises that he used.

Fundamentally there were only 2 Chakra Control exercises, Tree and Water walking. All the other exercises that he had been practicing were branches that he used to augment his fighting prowess. Although they helped in increasing control, they were techniques that could be performed by anyone that had mastered the basic two exercises. Chakra control only increased with experience in using it, Naruto had never been more thankful for Shadow Clones.

But this Jutsu was at a whole other level, the scroll described it as one of the most advanced form of Chakra Shape Manipulation. He was using his Sharingan to see the Chakra flow and improve it, to better match the requirements.

HE brought his hand forward and looking at it intently, channelled his Chakra to it and suddenly the balloon popped and was torn to smithereens, the water inside coming down on him in a misty form.

"First step Completed." He murmured and leaned against the tree, to rest for some time. Before he knew it he was asleep.

**Naruto's Mindscape**

As soon as he got up in his mindscape, he was tackled to the ground and was kissed by Kyuubi passionately. After regaining his bearings, he kissed her back as well. After they separated, Kyuubi just took his hand and led him inside the house and sat him down on the couch. After that, she snuggled up to him and Naruto put his arms around her back and held her close. He was shocked when he felt her sobbing quietly, her face buried in the crook of his neck, trying to burrow even closer to him.

"What's wrong Kyuu-chan?" Naruto asked, his tone filled with concern and a little bewilderment.

Kyuubi shook her head and stayed quietly in the same position.

"Was my kiss really that bad?" Naruto asked trying to cheer her up. Kyuubi let out a throaty giggle, shook her head, but still remained silent.

"Come on Kyuu-chan, you know that I don't like to see you sad, what's bothering you?" Naruto asked while gently rubbing her back, and brought his other hand up to stroke her hair.

"**I really want to be the first one to bear your babies Naruto-kun, but I am trapped in this seal. We can do just about everything in here, but the creation of life is impossible in here."** Kyuubi said sadly.

"You know that I am working on freeing you Kyuu-chan, never abandon hope. We are close to figuring it out, but I feel as if there is a piece missing from my Mother's notes. And you know that I am not ready to be a father yet, I will only be comfortable raising a family after Madara has been dealt with once and for all. So we have plenty of time. I promise you, you will be the first to bear me children." Naruto said as he kissed the side of her head.

"I don't see why you are worried though, you know that I haven't yet properly kissed Mei-chan and Sakiko-chan. We just snuggle together and peck lightly. You know that, don't you?" Naruto asked.

"I love you Naruto-kun, more than anything else in the world." Kyuubi said softly, leaning back to look him in the eyes.

"I love you too Kyuu-chan." Naruto said smiling.

**Timeskip - That Night**

Naruto, Mei and Sakiko were sitting down in the training grounds after dinner discussing what they would do regarding the evaluation exam tomorrow. They agreed that Mei and Sakiko would do most of the fighting, with Naruto assisting them. Granted it would be suspicious, but Naruto could just say that it was his fighting style and was more of a support fighter.

Both Mei and Sakiko got up after that and then engaged themselves in a spar, while Naruto sat down and attempted to contact Tensa Zangetsu. Kyuubi had told him to visit him and that he was the one who would teach him all that he would require to know about his sword and the special Chakra of the Uzumaki Clan.

Naruto concentrated the same way that he used to when he wanted to visit Kyuubi, the world suddenly appeared to stop in front of him and he soon found himself in his Inner World, as he called it.

He saw that Zangetsu was sitting down on a rock that was jutting out of the field and gazing up at the moon. Naruto wondered what he was thinking about was.

"Zangetsu-san?" Naruto asked.

"You are going to go far Naruto. I can feel it, your strength, your resolve and your determination. I will assist you in any way that I can, Naruto. All that I ask for in return is to never change your beliefs, and work together with me." Zangetsu said, looking directly at Naruto.

"I will work hard to meet your expectations Zangetsu-san." Naruto bowed towards him, to show his respect.

Zangetsu then started explaining the various techniques that the Uzumaki's used while in battle. There were two techniques that stood out the most and were frequently used by them in battle. The first was Hohō (Step Method). It primarily consisted of a technique named as Shunpo (Flash Step). It was a movement technique that allowed the user to move faster than the eye could follow. The focal point that determines the basis of this technique was speed. As speed is the main point of the technique the method was best characterized by how fast one can get from point A to point B in the least amount of steps. Training and skill are what determined how fast a user of Shunpo can move; those of little skill in the technique or those who haven't used it an extended amount of time would obviously be out of practice, causing those individuals to be considerably slower, which requires the use of more steps to move the same distance and become winded far easier in a shorter amount of time.

The second was Kidō (Demon Arts). There were two main types of Kidō, Bakudō (Way of Binding) and Hadō (Way of Destruction). Each Jutsu is graded on a scale from 1 to 99, the latter being the most powerful and the most difficult to perform. Zangetsu had informed him that the Uzumaki Council was responsible for giving the grade of the Jutsu created by an Uzumaki. The scale is a measure of difficulty, as there can be multiple Jutsu which share the same level. To use Kidō, an Uzumaki must recite the specific incantation for the spell, which is often long and requires a few seconds to speak.

The Uzumaki's, who were primarily weapon users, found that making handseals during combat was difficult and would spell certain doom against a skilled opponent. So they created incantations that served the same purpose as handseals in focusing and directing their chakra to use Jutsus. Though Kidō is commonly used by the Uzumaki Clan in combat, it has several weaknesses that make it difficult to use for that purpose. All of the spells have fairly long incantations and require concentration; because of this, the person using the Kidō leaves themselves open to attack during the duration of the incantation.

"Do you understand everything that I have told you Naruto?" Zangetsu asked after he had finished his long explanation.

Naruto nodded. His thoughts on how these new techniques could be used to further augment his fighting style. He wondered how was it that Zangetsu knew so much about the Uzumaki clan and their techniques, and asked him about it. The answer was something that he was not expecting.

Every spirit residing inside an Uzumaki Soul Blade resides in a different dimension than the one he was in. Every time an Uzumaki awakens his bloodline, the Blade spirits are able to sense it and scan his very being. If any spirit chooses his/her to be worthy he transfers itself into his Inner World and manifests itself as a weapon. Usually their personalities and beliefs complement each other and they choose such a person as their wielder. Whenever an Uzumaki dies, or achieves complete mastery over his sword, the Blade spirit returns itself to his home in the other dimension. He also told Naruto that the Spirits could visit the dimension whenever they wished, and thus this was the reason that Zangetsu knew so much about the Uzumaki's. He told Naruto that he would be returning to the Spirit World, as he called it, and would acquire the Kidō and Shunpo techniques.

Naruto had a question, "Was it Shunpo that you were using when we had sparred earlier? You just seemed to vanish from my sight."

"No Naruto, that was my natural speed. Shunpo is . . ." midway through the conversation, Zangetsu vanished altogether and Naruto couldn't even see a flicker as to indicate the direction that he had gone in.

"This." Zangetsu said standing directly behind Naruto.

Naruto was amazed by the technique. Such speed would rival even that of his father's Hirashin Jutsu.

"When do we start?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Zangetsu began instructing him, teaching him the basics of the Shunpo. The basic idea behind the technique was Chakra Manipulation. The Uzumaki's chakra was dense and as such they were able to create a disc of Chakra beneath their feet, this in turn provided the necessary thrust required for the technique to work. After about 2 hours of continuous practice, Naruto could perform Shunpo successfully in a controlled environment. He wasn't able to go very far and his speed was not up to the mark, his concentration also left much to be desired, but at least he was making progress.

"That's enough Naruto. Keep practicing it whenever you are able to; try making the disc of chakra beneath your feet whenever you walk, with every step you take you will be training, and use you Shadow Clones to boost your training. You have learnt much today." Zangetsu said, his tone underlying with a sense of pride.

"Thanks for everything Zangetsu-san." Naruto waved at him and then faded from his sights.

When Naruto opened his eyes he was surprised to see that both Mei and Sakiko had decided to take a nap and apparently he was decided upon to be used as a pillow. Sakiko was holding his left arm in both of hers, leaning on his side and resting her head on his shoulders and Mei was simply using his lap as a pillow. Naruto smiled at them and created a clone and took the both of them to their rooms and tucked them in.

He went down to the training grounds again and opened the scroll that he had got from Jiraiya, and read up on the second step to mastering the Rasengan. The second step was for the user to burst a rubber ball, and since rubber is thicker, and air is completely different from water, it forces the user to use more chakra with the same haphazard rotation to break it. This step emphasizes power. He again found the required training tools i.e. rubber balls in a sealing scroll. Naruto took a rubber ball in his hand and channelled more chakra than his previous attempts at breaking the water balloon and tried to maintain the same movement as before.

The ball changed shape and a hole was made in it, but it didn't burst as the scroll described as the level required to master it to the next stage. Naruto sighed and created 200 clones, he directed 100 of them to practice Shunpo and the rest of them worked on completing the second stage of the training for the Rasengan. He himself started training physically, practicing both his Taijutsu Katas and then moved on to sparring against his clones.

After three straight hours of rigorous physical exercise, Naruto sat down in a meditative position and ordered his clones to dispel in groups of 10 every 5 seconds. After all the clones had dispelled he reviewed the acquired experiences and again tried doing the second step of the Rasengan, the rubber ball exploded violently, and even though Naruto had rooted himself to the ground using Chakra, expecting such a reaction, he was still a bit pushed back, his feet digging into the ground. Naruto was simply amazed at the power of this Jutsu, and it still had a stage left.

Deciding to test out his progress in Shunpo, he was disappointed to find that he had only made a little progress in reducing the concentration time and increased the distance a bit; though his speed had remained the same.

After that he turned in for the night, he didn't know anything about their sensei but it was better to be prepared.

**Meanwhile. . . **

Uzuki Yugao was standing in front of Hizuren Sarutobi, her commanding officer and the Hokage of Konoha. She had thought long and hard about her situation and was thoroughly confused. She was barely 15 years old , and although she was a part of the Konoha Jounin forces, she was promoted to Jounin from Tokubetsu Jounin by the Hokage just days before. She had asked the reason for this unexpected promotion and the Hokage had revealed something to her that shocked her. Her parents had died on a mission when she was five, and after that she had dedicated herself to training. She didn't have that many friends and due to her early graduation and subsequent promotion through the ranks. People her age were jealous of her power, and people of her rank didn't take her seriously and frankly speaking apart from their Ninja careers, they had nothing in common. But then the Hokage had revealed that the person with whom, her parents had drafted an arranged marriage was alive.

She knew of the arranged marriage, but as she knew it she was to be married to the son of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. As far as she knew, the Yondaime didn't have a son. But the Hokage had told her that, Uzumaki Naruto, container of the Kyuubi was in fact, the son of the Yondaime himself. She had gaped at the Hokage for a while, then turned around and left without a word. Before she could leave, the Hokage had informed her that she would be the assigned Jounin Sensei of Naruto's team. She had paused momentarily, nodded her head and left.

Sitting at her apartment she had often wondered, what it would have been like if her fiancé was there with her. She was sure that she would definitely not feel so lonely, and would have made friends. Now that she knew that he was alive, she was confused what she should do. She didn't have anything against Naruto personally, and had to admit to herself that he was definitely cute, with his sun-kissed blonde hair and deep blue eyes he was a rare specimen. His whisker like marks on his cheeks just sealed the deal. But she was also acutely aware that he wasn't the most liked person in the village. She shook her head, it shouldn't matter what others thought of him, and she would at the very least get to know him. She had accepted the Hokage's proposal.

But after meeting Naruto and the team today, she was overwhelmed. It wasn't the fact that he had two girlfriends that bothered her, she was sure that she could work with that and considering his situation, it wasn't that uncommon for a person to be put under the CRA in a village, like Konoha that had many bloodline clans and welcomed more. But hearing their dreams and goals, she had realized that if she were to become their Jounin Sensei she would be hindering their potential and possibly endangering their lives. She couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. So she had gone to the Hokage with her concerns.

"I understand your concerns Yugao-chan. But you have nothing to worry about, you are a skilled Ninja. You have held the position of Tokubetsu Jounin for over a year. I believe that you are more than adequate for the job." Sarutobi said gently.

"But Jounins are supposed to be experts in all the Ninja ways, it takes them years to gather the experience but the only reason that I was a Tokubetsu Jounin was due to my skill with the sword. I really don't have the required experience." Yugao said desperately trying to make the Hokage see her point.

Sarutobi sighed; he knew that Naruto and the girls had received training from Tsunade and Jiraiya, so they had to be strong. Whatever Yugao lacked in her teaching skill could be covered by the both of them. But he had already given out too much information to her, he knew that she could be trusted but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Would it make you feel better if I had the team tested by another Jounin Yugao-chan?" Sarutobi asked after he gave his new idea some thought.

Yugao considered the idea. Although it wouldn't help much with their missions, she would feel reassured that they didn't pass just because of her lacking skills. Most of the Jounins would leave the Genins to complete the mission themselves and only intervened if they were in trouble. She would just have to work extra hard and be much more careful than the rest of them. And while training them, she could even start her own training, to better herself.

"I accept your idea Hokage-sama. I have asked my team to meet me at training ground 11 tomorrow morning at 7." Yugao said.

"Understood. I will make the necessary arrangements; you will meet the Jounin there 10 minutes beforehand. Both of you can discuss how you want to test them. Dismissed." Sarutobi stated authoritatively.

Yugao nodded once, bowed and then left.

**Timeskip - Next Morning**

Naruto woke up around 5 o'clock the next morning; he performed some stretches and taking stock of his body, concluded that he was fully rested after yesterday's training. He hadn't ever been more thankful for his rapid recovery; it was the reason why he could literally train to the bone everyday and not have any adverse side effects. At first he had felt that he was cheating somehow, he could do training exercises that the others couldn't even dream of doing it now safely. After Mei and Sakiko had sat him down and told him that they didn't feel that he was cheating, and although they felt a little jealous, it was something that they were ok with. They had reminded him that it was a part of his bloodline, and a Ninja uses every tool or advantage that he can have. He had never let this bother him again, and had vowed to help the girls in their training in any way that he could. He had told them as much, and received two pecks on his lips from them.

Bringing himself out of his trip to memory lane, he went up to wake up the girls. It was the same each morning. He would wake up the both of them after his morning exercise and stretching and then the three of them would then get ready to get through the day.

Naruto decided to wear his mission clothes to training today. The three of them had received it as gifts from Tsunade, they were told to choose the clothes and the designs, and Tsunade had asked Jiraiya to inscribe some seals on them. The seals used were generally for durability, and added strength. If Ninjas didn't use such seals they would go through their whole wardrobe in a month and would be left with nothing to wear.

Naruto wore a black sleeveless, skin tight mesh shirt, which also included a facemask covering his whole neck. It was something that he had ordered on the advice of Zangetsu. He had said that he would tell him later why he didn't need sleeves, and Tsunade had suggested that he add the facemask to hide his whisker marks. It appeared as a normal cloth but was in fact, woven with small, almost miniscule pieces of metal. Although it was heavy, it didn't hinder him much and allowed for fluid movement due to its design while increasing his defence. The inside of the shirt was lined with a common material for ninja clothing, otherwise wearing it for long periods of time would not be possible. Although the metallic material made it weak against fire, Naruto figured that the advantages far outweighed the flaws and had ordered them for the girls as well. He also wore dark blue ANBU style pants, and black Ninja sandals. The cuffs of his pants were tied by grey bandages, keeping it from fluttering. His ninja pouch was tied to his right side, with a dark brown belt, loosely held, that was tilted slightly towards the left. He also wore an orange scarf that was wrapped twice around his neck and resting on his shoulders loosely, with the rest of the scarf going down on both his sides, up to his mid-back. The ends of the scarf had the Uzumaki Clan symbol; a circle with a whirlpool pattern, in black.

Attached to the belt, resting on his lower back were what appeared to be two Sake bottles. These held water that he could use to perform his Water Ninjutsu. It was an idea that he had come up with after he had learnt that, seals could be used to store large amounts of water as well. The inside of the bottles were lined with seals that expanded the inside of the bottle. He carried two of them, just in case.

Looking in the mirror, he couldn't help but think that he was lucky that the girls had helped him with his clothing choices. He looked like a Ninja that was not to be trifled with. He went down to have a light breakfast and wait for the girls to get ready.

As they came down the stairs, Naruto looked at their chosen dresses and couldn't help but blush. It wasn't that they were purposefully wearing revealing clothing; it was that they were garbed in standard Ninja clothing for Kunoichi, but they looked simply amazing.

Mei was dressed in a long-sleeved dark blue dress that falls just below the knees. It seemed to be closed at the front with a zip, and is kept open on the front-right side from the waist down. The dress only covers up to the upper part of her arms and the underside of her breasts. Underneath, she was wearing the same mesh shirt as him that covered more of her upper body than her dress, but stops short of covering her shoulders and still leaves a sizeable amount of her upper chest showing. She also wore a skirt in the same colour as her dress and, underneath those, mesh leggings reaching down over her knees. Around her waist, she was wearing a belt with a pouch attached to the back on the left. Her Hitai-ate was wrapped around her waist as a belt. She completed her outfit with high-heeled sandals and shin-guards reaching up over her knees. Coupled with her long auburn hair that reached up to her lower back, she was a decidedly beautiful girl.

Sakiko was garbed in a white, sleeveless, Chinese style dress that was tucked into her shorts. The collars of the dress were up, and covered half of her neck from view, and the neckline was V shaped and ended just below the middle of her chest, showing a hint of cleavage. The shorts, which were black in colour, were totally skin-fit and ended at the middle of her thighs. She wore two belts in a X shape over her hips, the right side having her Ninja pouch and the left having a standard Medical pouch. She also wore fingerless gloves on her hands that extended up to her upper arms. Her Hitai-ate was on her right hand, wrapped just above where her gloves ended in a deep red cloth. Her hair, which was a beautiful black colour, was put up so that there were two bangs framing her face going down below her chin and had tied her hair in a ponytail that reached the base of her neck. On her feet she had bandages wrapped, and was wearing the standard Ninja scandals in black.

Naruto could just stare at them, as far as he was concerned, the girls before him were the epitome of beauty and also a symbol of strength. He realized why they had chosen such dresses, it complemented their style well. Mei with her larger Chakra reserves was more of a Ninjutsu support fighter, while Sakiko was more of a close ranged fighter, being stronger in Taijutsu.

The girls on the other hand were discreetly admiring Naruto. For a 12 year old he was quite fit; they had seen that every time that they had gone swimming. His clothes made him look like a proper Ninja, someone that you would prefer not crossing paths with. His hair; which was something that they absolutely loved, was spiky and hung on his head, not obstructing his vision but still pulling off the look that it wasn't cut and just grew that way. Overall, they were feeling quite flustered.

"Both of you look amazing . . . beautiful yet deadly." Naruto said, awe shining clearly in his voice.

The girls blushed prettily, and Mei replied "Thank you Naruto-kun, you're not too bad yourself." Winking at him at the end, Sakiko nodding along.

The girls walked up to him and each took one of his arms and together they made their way to Training Ground 11.

**At Training Ground 11**

As the trio of Genin arrived at the scheduled meeting spot they were surprised to see another person standing there along with their Sensei. It was a man that appeared to be in his mid twenties, almost 6 feet tall and had spiky silver coloured hair. He was dressed as a standard Jounin of Konoha, but had a facemask similar to Naruto on his face. He was talking quietly with their sensei and as they approached, he turned towards them.

Naruto, now facing him could recognize him. He saw as his eyes widened slightly before returning to its normal lazy attitude. Naruto smirked.

'_Hatake Kakashi . . . we finally meet'_ Naruto thought.

A/N: Thank you to all the people that reviewed. I just wanted to inform you that I have my exams starting Next week and will get over at the end of the month, so I might not update till the end of the month. Sorry. . . on a side note please review and tell me if I should bash Kakashi a little or not?


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**Chapter 10**

"Morning, Yugao-sensei." Naruto greeted followed by both Mei and Sakiko.

Yugao nodded and returned the greeting.

"Who is this Yugao-sensei?" Sakiko enquired.

"His name is Hatake Kakashi, he's a Jounin and will be the one conducting your evaluation." Yugao said.

"Why? You are our Sensei right?" Mei asked.

"I have my reasons and will tell them to you later." Yugao said, a bit of sadness creeping into her voice.

Naruto noticed this and kept it in mind, even though he didn't know her she was their assigned Sensei and Naruto just had a gut feeling that it was something important.

"Alright, Yugao had told me that you already know the value of teamwork and just wants me to evaluate you fighting skills." Kakashi said lazily.

He brought out a timer and handed it to Yugao.

Holding up three bells he said, "Now then, rules. You have three hours to take these bells from me. Whether you acquire it by yourself, or by working together. Anything goes. Begin."

Naruto, Mei and Sakiko immediately scattered and regrouped.

"We never planned for this. How do you think we should proceed?" Sakiko asked.

"Dun no, Kakashi is a much stronger Ninja, but not as strong as that pervert." Mei said.

Naruto remained silent. Jiraiya had told him a lot about Kakashi, and had expressed that after his Sensei's death he had changed. It was as if he had lost the motivation to better himself. Jiraiya told him that he blamed himself for his death. There was also the matter about his teammate, Uchiha Obito. He had died saving Kakashi, and had bequeathed his left eye to replace Kakashi's lost eye, that he had lost on the very same mission. After that, he had relied on Minato to help him get over it, but apparently his loss was something that he never recovered from.

Naruto knew how he felt, placing the blame on himself all this time; it was a wonder that he was able to function at all. He had tried to lessen his guilt by training Sasuke for the last year. Naruto didn't know how that turned out for him, but he planned to find out soon.

"Girls, I have a plan; it's risky but it needs to be done." Naruto told them, his voice low.

"What did you have in mind Naruto-kun?" Sakiko asked.

"Here's how we are going to do this . . ."

**With Kakashi**

Kakashi was standing in the same position as before, looking around, searching for the Genin. Yugao had retreated to a tree a safe distance away. He was surprised to find that he wasn't able to locate them easily. He knew that Naruto was excellent at stealth, but it appears that he had taught his team that same skill as well. Not thinking much about it, he kept on the lookout for any sign of an attack.

He jumped to the left as he heard a whistling sound cutting through the air. Dodging the thrown kunai, he was surprised to hear multiple sounds closing on his position. Taking out his kunai, he deflected all the Kunai thrown at him, looking in the direction where he had seen the Kunai coming from he thought he caught a glint of golden eyes in one of the trees. Shaking his head, he readied himself for their attack.

He heard a voice call out from somewhere to the left of him.

Doton: Ganchūrō no Jutsu (Earth Release: Stone Pillar Prison)

Kakashi stared wide eyed as stone pillars 25 feet in height rose up around him in a circle, trapping him effectively. He was shocked that a Genin was able to use Elemental Ninjutsu, a B-rank to boot. He didn't wait to see what they were going to do next and flashing through handsigns, slammed his hand to the earth and called out.

Raiton:Kaminari sāji (Lightning Release: Lightning Surge)

Lightning surged forth from Kakashi's hand and surrounded each of the pillars in a circle and lightning charged inside it. The pillars seemed to hold out for a while but then broke down into tiny pieces, rocks falling to the ground.

Kakashi was surprised at how much chakra he had to channel in order to overcome the technique. He realized that he would have to take this fight seriously, and retreated to the trees, hiding himself from plain view.

Mei was exhausted after using her technique; she had begun channelling more chakra in the technique to make it stronger and hold out a little longer against Kakashi's Jutsu. She had stopped when Naruto had placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "That should be enough Mei-chan, you performed wonderfully."

Mei leaned against the tree she was on, and recovered her Chakra from her ring. She had performed the first part of their plan and had some time before she had to do the next.

Meanwhile Naruto had gone over to Sakiko and nodded to her. She went towards the clearing that they were standing in earlier and pretended to be laying traps.

Kakashi saw her and wondered what she was up to. As far as he had observed, this team was way above the average team that passed from the academy, she shouldn't be leaving herself open like that. While distracted by his thoughts, Kakashi failed to notice a small puff of smoke from the tree behind him.

Naruto smiled as he received the memory from one of the clones that he had scattered throughout the training ground. He swiftly moved towards his position and making handsigns, whispered.

Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

Kakashi inwardly swore as a sudden strong gust of wind blew from behind him, he was too late to perform the Kawamiri (Substitution), and braced himself for the impact. He flew through various small branches, which snapped against the pressure and eventually was slammed into the ground. Right in front of a grinning Sakiko.

'_Oh shit . . . have to take this fight seriously, otherwise my reputation would plummet. Me being defeated by a Genin team . . . it would be years before I live that down.'_ Kakashi thought.

He righted himself quickly, wincing slightly by the fast movement straining his sore muscles. He saw Sakiko approaching him at a fast pace, and brought his hand up to his left eye and lifted up his headband to reveal his fully matured Sharingan.

Sakiko seemed to pause slightly before she took out 3 shuriken and threw them at him in an arc. Kakashi was slightly confused by her aim; he could see that they were not going to hit him. He saw their path and spotting the rope that was cut, instantly moved away from his position. There was a hail of Kunai buried in the ground; two of them were attached with Explosive notes. His eyed widened, as the resulting blast threw him off balance. Detecting Sakiko behind him, he quickly turned around and blocked her kick aimed at the side of his head. He staggered back slightly; surprised by the force she had behind her kick. Recovering, he caught her leg and tried throwing her away from him. Sakiko realized her predicament, and contorting her body, brought her other leg up, right under Kakashi's chin. Kakashi let go of her leg and leaned back slightly, avoiding her kick.

Sakiko back flipped launching a pair of Kunai at him, and landed on the ground, but immediately after that she jumped up high in the air and making handsigns called out.

Katon: Hōenka (Fire Release: Flame Flower)

A single large bullet of fire was expelled from her mouth and headed straight for Kakashi.

Kakashi dodged the Kunai and then watched as the large meteorite-like ball of flame was headed rapidly for his position. He knew that he could have dodged it, but his pride wouldn't allow him to do so. He had already been caught unawares by the Wind Jutsu, he would be damned if he couldn't counter this with his own Jutsu.

He flashed through handsigns and called out his Jutsu.

Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Release: Gunshot)

Three globules of water rose up from the nearby river, formed the shape of a sphere and launched itself at the approaching fireball. As soon as the first sphere came in contact with it, the fireball expanded rapidly and a torrent of flames spewed forth mid-air. These flames were extinguished by the rest of the spheres and a slight mist and droplets of water rained down on their position.

Kakashi was feeling slightly winded after using so much of his chakra, along with the Sharingan for such a long period of time. He had used up almost a fourth of his total reserves and could feel the slight drain of Chakra exhausting him. However, he hid this fact from his opponent well.

'_Gotcha'_ Thought Naruto. Holding his hands in the Ram seal, he began channelling Chakra, using his Sharingan as the medium.

Kakashi felt a faint prickling in the back of his head, and turned to look around. What he saw shocked him to the very core. Four Jounins and judging by their headbands, belonging to Iwagakure were arrogantly approaching him. Two of them had a young woman and a boy slumped upon their shoulders, and when he spotted him looking at them, they grinned and dropped both of them on the ground. It was Yugao and Naruto, Yugao's body was littered with bruises and blood flowing freely from the stab wound in her stomach. Naruto was more or less in the same condition. One of the Jounins had Mei in his hold, a Kunai pressed threateningly against her throat.

"You bastards!" Sakiko yelled and blindly charged at them, eyes alight with blind fury.

"Sakiko wait!" Kakashi yelled, trying to stop her.

One of the Jounins made some handseals and shouted out.

Doton: Doryūsō (Earth Release: Rising Stone Spears)

Pointed spikes jutted out of the ground, heading straight for Sakiko. She was able to dodge a few but was impaled as she got closer to the Jounins. Kakashi watched frozen as Sakiko was lifted slightly from the ground, her body slumping bonelessly. Mei was sobbing hysterically, shaking her head violently from side to side, and refusing to see the sight before her.

The Jounins laughed at Kakashi's helplessness.

"Why are you here? Do you realize that this is enough grounds to start a war with Konoha?" Kakashi asked glaring at them.

"I don't fucking care! I'm here for revenge against Konoha and against you. Do you remember that day, when you killed my brother on that bridge? The same day that I had killed your teammate?" the Jounin standing in the middle snarled.

"I'm going to kill you. I'll kill you!" Kakashi shouted, rage bubbling within him. He charged them head on.

Fifteen minutes later, Kakashi was standing in the middle of what appeared to be a wasteland. There were scorch marks, upturned earth, unnatural rock formations and broken trees littered everywhere. Kakashi was standing in the middle, heaving huge gulps of air.

He soon slumped to the ground staring listlessly at the sky above him. His thoughts wandering to his past mistakes; mistakes, which had cost him dearly. He remembered Obito, Minato-sensei and Rin.

He saw as Obito appeared before him, urging him to get up. He was soon joined by Minato and Rin.

'_You need to get up Kakashi; the Hokage needs to know about this._' Minato said.

'_Quit lying around Kakashi, you did everything that you could to help._' Rin said.

'_Have you learnt nothing Hatake?_' Obito asked.

'_It's all my fault. I never seem to be able to protect my comrades when it counts. I'm sorry Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei._'

'_You know, I never liked your emo attitude._' Obito commented.

'_You always told me that people who abandon a mission are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. I have always tried to follow that, but I just can't seem to be capable of doing it._'

'_Our deaths were not your fault Kakashi. I chose to seal the Kyuubi into my son, I sacrificed my life willingly. Even if you were there I wouldn't have let you stop me._'

'_But . . ._'

'_I chose to save your life Kakashi, it's my Ninja way_' Obito said.

'_You couldn't have helped me. I was all the way in Kiri, on my mission_' Rin said.

'_But I . . ._'

'_You said that you believed in what I said, but you have to realize that we are no longer your comrades. You have new comrades now, teach them your values, and look at it as a new start._' Obito said.

Kakashi stared at them, realizing all the wasted years that he had spent wallowing in self pity. he vowed that he wouldn't go back to his old habits, and would turn over a new leaf. Although he wouldn't give up his precious Icha Icha Books, old habits die hard and all . . . with that thought in mind a smile graced his lips and he slumped into unconsciousness.

**With Yugao**

When she had arrived at the training ground 11, she was a little nervous. When she had caught a glimpse of her team she couldn't help but feel proud of her team. They were dressed just like a competent Ninja. She had felt heat rise to her face when she saw Naruto come closer, he was definitely _hot._ She controlled her reaction however and let Kakashi tell them the rules. She couldn't have imagined, even in her wildest dreams, the events that followed.

Yugao had been watching the fight in slack Jawed amazement, her Genin were giving Kakashi a run for his money. She watched as they systematically wore down his defences, taking every opportunity to attack whenever he showed any openings. The thing that confused her however; was the fact that they were only fighting long range, using Ninjutsu to attack. In order to get the bells, they would need to get in close to him.

She had expected Sakiko to be the one to take the bells, as she was the one that had engaged him in Taijutsu. But she was proved wrong when she had launched her fireball at Kakashi. But sometime after that, Kakashi was just standing there motionlessly, while Sakiko got behind him and placed a Kunai against his back and signalled someone to come out. It was then, that Naruto and Mei came out and stood in front of Kakashi. Mei took the bells off him and waited.

**With Naruto **

Naruto exhaled a long breath as he saw Sakiko signal them to come out. The Genjutsu that he had used on Kakashi was hard on him as well, projecting the images that he had had been tough for him. Even imagining his girls in such a situation filled him with dread. He would need to talk to them later. After deactivating his Sharingan, he came in front of Kakashi, ended the Genjutsu and watched as Kakashi's previously unfocused eyes came into focus and he blinked owlishly, looking at him and then at the surroundings.

"Na . . . Naruto?" Kakashi stuttered.

"Hey there, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said.

"What . . . happened?" Kakashi asked as he brought down his headband on his left eye.

"I trapped you in a Genjutsu. What you saw wasn't real." Naruto said

"That's impossible; my Sharingan would have been able to see through it . . ." said Kakashi disbelievingly.

"The Sharingan isn't infallible Kakashi-sensei; it would serve you well to remember that." Naruto said with a subtle tilt to his head.

Kakashi stared at Naruto for a long time before nodding slightly.

"Now then, as you have acquired the bells, you pass." Kakashi said smiling at the three of them.

Naruto, Mei and Sakiko pumped their fists into the air and exulted. Yugao felt a strong urge to join them, but controlled herself.

"Well, I think that I should be on my way. I still have to test my Genin team." Kakashi said with a grimace forming on his face as he mentioned his team.

"Naruto, Thank you . . . for everything." Kakashi said.

"Anytime." Naruto nodded.

After Kakashi left, team 11 sat down on the training ground. After answering some questions that Yugao had regarding their test, and the techniques that they used Naruto asked the question that he had been mulling over for some time.

"Yugao-sensei, why didn't you test us yourself?"

Yugao sighed, it couldn't be avoided for long and truthfully, she was tired of keeping quiet. She started her explanation, she told them that she was promoted to Jounin recently and was only a Tokubetsu Jounin, experience wise. She told them that she had told the Hokage her problem and this was the solution that he had suggested.

"But I don't understand why did the Hokage promote you if you were not ready to lead a team?" Mei asked.

Yugao shifted in her position uncomfortably. This was the part that she was nervous about telling them. She didn't know how they were going to react, and she wasn't sure what she would do, both as their Sensei and as a person if Naruto were to refuse acknowledging her as his fiancé, whether by arrangement or choice.

She steeled her resolve and began speaking.

"The reason the Hokage did this is . . . uh . . . well." Yugao started strong but began stumbling with her words.

"Um . . . my parents had agreed to an arranged marriage between me and Yondaime-sama's son. Barely a week ago had the Hokage informed me that the fiancé that I thought had died was you, Naruto-kun. Growing up, I never had any friends and I always wondered what my life would have been like if I had known about you earlier. That's the reason why Hokage-sama did it." Yugao said her head bowed down, looking intently at her feet.

There was silence in the clearing for a long time; no one spoke, each one lost in their own thoughts. Mei nudged Sakiko and when she saw that she had her attention, nodded at Yugao. Sakiko glanced at Yugao, noting her slightly shaking body and nodded at Mei after some time.

"Naruto-kun, why don't you catch up with Yugao-san? We'll head out home and tell everyone the news." Mei said with Sakiko nodding along.

"Naruto looked up at them, eyes seemingly asking many questions, seeking the answers. They both smiled at him and nodded once before leaving.

Naruto looked down at Yugao; it tore his heart to see someone in such a condition. Nobody deserved to be treated like this.

"Hey, Yugao-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Wanna spar?" Naruto asked smiling widely.

A/N: Alright . . . had some free time so wrote this. But, this will be the last one for this month I promise.( I think so)


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**A/N:** Hey there people, M finally finished with my exams and will be updating again. Please visit my profile and cast your votes in the poll that I have put up. Have Fun!

**Chapter 11**

"Hey, Yugao-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Wanna spar?" Naruto asked smiling widely.

"Huh . . . ?" Yugao asked, looking up at Naruto with a confused expression on her face.

Naruto noticed the slightly misty look in her eyes and his face softened. He held out his hand to her. She smiled up at him, took his hand and lifted herself to her feet.

"You sure you want to do this now? You must be tired after today's test." Yugao said a little concerned for him.

"Nah . . . almost all the work was done by Mei-chan and Sakiko-chan. The only bit that I did was blow him out into the clearing and place him under the Genjutsu." Naruto said waving his hand dismissively, feeling quite proud of his girls.

They went up to the clearing and Yugao turned around facing Naruto and got into a ready position. She was confused to see that Naruto was just standing there, rubbing the back of his head, a sheepish expression on his face. She assumed the last part as most of his face was covered by his mask.

"Well I was kinda hoping that you would spar with me in a Kenjutsu fight." Naruto said.

"Are you interested in Kenjutsu Naruto-kun?" Yugao asked inwardly ecstatic, it was something that she could help him learn.

"Yeah, I have always wanted to learn it. I know that my mother was a Kenjutsu Master, and I will make her proud by becoming one as well." Naruto said his voice laced with determination.

"I'm sure you will be Naruto-kun, and I'll help you learn with everything that I have." Yugao said.

"Thank you Yugao-sensei." Naruto said thankfully.

"But, I don't see your sword with you Naruto-kun. Did you not bring it?" Yugao asked.

Naruto just grinned at her question and brought his hands forward and in a surge of Chakra Naruto was holding his sword, Tensa Zangetsu.

Yugao stared at the sword. It was the same class of sword as her's a Japanese long sword, but in appearance it was totally different and it looked utterly scary. So, of course, she loved it.

Naruto sweatdropped as he saw the hearts in the eyes of his sensei/fiancé. Truthfully, he didn't mind being her friend and he would then see if it would lead somewhere else. He wondered why his father hadn't mentioned it in his journal, he had recorded everything else. Shrugging, Naruto brought his attention back to his surroundings and saw that Yugao had materialized next to him and was looking at his sword from every conceivable angle, bending this way and that.

"Um, Yugao-sensei?"Naruto questioned, trying to get her attention.

Yugao kept on looking at the sword, muttering things under her breath, her hands twitching as if she wanted nothing more than to hold it in her hands.

"Sensei?" Naruto asked again.

"Oh. . . ah Naruto-kun your sword is magnificent, where did you get it? It doesn't look like an ordinary sword to me." Yugao said still looking at the sword in Naruto's hands.

"You are right Yugao-sensei, this sword isn't a normal sword and as to where I got it, it is a tale for another time." Naruto said cheekily.

Yugao _pouted_, she actually pouted after hearing Naruto's response to her questions. Naruto smiled at seeing the look on her face.

"How about this, I'll answer as many questions that you have and I am comfortable answering after the spar?" Naruto asked.

"Deal." Yugao answered and stepped away from him and took out her blade that was strapped to her back. It was a standard Daito, but was in pristine condition. Just looking at the blade Naruto could tell that it was well maintained and its sharpness was not to be questioned.

Naruto got into a loose stance, his sword held at his side. Yugao immediately noticed that he was somewhat stiff in his stance, noting it for future reference to help him correct it.

"How do you want to do this?" Naruto asked.

"First one to draw blood wins?" Yugao answered her statement posed as a question.

"Agreed." Naruto answered.

Yugao got into her stance and waited for Naruto to make the first move. They stood staring at each other, looking for the smallest hint of a twitch in the other's stance for a long time. Losing her patience, and silently grumbling at herself for it; Yugao dashed at Naruto with her sword's tip pointed at the ground preparing a swipe from down to up.

Naruto brought his sword up and blocked the strike, tiny sparks erupting from the point of contact of the blades. Yugao was surprised when he held steady even when she applied pressure to her sword and was pushed back when he swung his hand. As soon as he did that, he quickly dashed forward and then the two of them sparred like that for quite some time, both of them evading or blocking the other's strikes. Yugao was analysing his fighting style, he seemed to be quite competent with his blade but lacked proper instruction and experience, but he made up for it wonderfully with his strength and uncanny reflexes. Yugao, finished with her analysis, decided the spar had gone long enough and began pushing Naruto on the defensive and finished the battle after nicking his forearm.

At the end of the spar Yugao was breathing slightly laboured but Naruto appeared to be only a tad tired. They sat down and Naruto dispelled his blade, making it vanish the same way it had appeared. Yugao seeing this, sat up a little straighter.

"How did you do that?" she asked. It seemed as a very useful ability to have.

"I think we need to talk about our situation first." Naruto replied skirting around her question.

"I think that the first thing that we need to clear up is whether you want to honour the arranged marriage or not, I'm sure that our parents must have written it so that either party can back out if he/she wants to." Naruto said kindly.

"No! . . . I mean that I . . . um . . . If you would like to . . . I'm saying that . . . I would like to take this decision at a later date. I would first like to get to know you a little better before I make my decision, it would also allow you time to make yours as well. So let's not void this contract hastily." Yugao said, her face tinged a light pink.

"I think that would be a wonderful idea Sensei." Naruto said smiling.

"You should call me Yugao when we aren't on missions Naruto-kun." Yugao said smiling back at him.

"Erm . . . Right." Naruto said a bit flustered. Yugao giggled discreetly.

They spent some time talking to each other and had a nice time. As it approached 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Yugao got up to leave saying that she had to submit her report and register the team as official Konoha Ninja. She told them that they would begin missions later that week and told him to inform his teammates to be here same time tomorrow.

'_That wasn't so bad. I think that I can get along with my team, maybe make some friends._' Yugao thought as she went on her way.

Naruto went to his house and was congratulated by Shizune and Tsunade. He and the girls along with Tsunade and Shizune had a late lunch and the newly formed Team 11 told the morning's activities from their point of view.

Just as Mei was about to bring up the topic of Yugao and the arranged marriage to Naruto, he, sitting next to her put his hand on her leg and subtly shook his head. Mei frowned for a moment before distracting the others by asking a question about a difficulty that she had in her training.

Sakiko looked at him and arched an eyebrow. Naruto motioned with his eyes that he would tell her later. Satisfied, she too joined in on the ongoing discussion.

After lunch, the three of them sat down on the couch and relaxed, watching the television. After casting the Genjutsu on Kakashi today, he was feeling the need to constantly reassure himself that the girls were indeed safe. He sat with his arms around their shoulders; the girls seemed to know what was bothering him and snuggled closer to him. After about an hour of relaxation, Mei suggested that they go down to train. She had a new Jutsu that she wanted to master, and had asked Naruto to help her with it.

Naruto went up to his workroom, the place where he kept his sealing supplies and books. As he entered the place he saw a group of 10 clones reading various books left by his father on sealing, while 5 other clones were drawing the same seal that was on the rings that he had given to the girls on a piece of paper. It didn't take long to create the seal on the paper as its size didn't need to be reduced. He had encountered a difficulty when he had been practicing Shunpo with his Shadow Clones. They simply didn't have enough Chakra to practice it for a length of time and having the clones dispel after every 10-12 tries wasn't a very effective training method.

Kyuubi had suggested using the seal to transfer Chakra to the clones after he made them. Since he had the same Chakra signature as the clones, he would be able to fill the seal with his Chakra and the Clones could use it to practice longer. But having more Chakra available to each clone didn't negate the fact that the clone would dispel after a solid hit, it just improved his training, allowing him to perfect his more Chakra draining techniques.

Picking up 20 seal tags that the clones had made since this morning, Naruto called out to the people sitting in the living room that he was going down to the training room. Mei and Sakiko immediately burst forth from the room and followed him to the training grounds. Naruto had promised to help them with their Ninjutsu and they loved learning new Jutsu's almost as much as Naruto did. Naruto created 20 clones and then walked up to them individually and channelled his Chakra into the seals in his hands and then applied them on the back of the clone's necks. He then instructed them to continue practicing Shunpo for the rest of the day. He then spent some time helping the girls with their problems in using their Ninjutsu and suggesting possible reasons for their mistakes.

After about an hour of helping the girls he walked away to a different clearing and activated his Sharingan. He had copied a Jutsu from Kakashi earlier today and the technique that he used appeared to be quite useful. Going through the handsigns slowly, getting a feel for using the technique, Naruto slammed his hands on the ground and whispered, **Raiton:****Kaminari s****ā****ji ****(Lightning Release: Lightning Surge).** **There were a few sparks of lightning that escaped the place where his hands were resting, but it soon frizzled out afterwards. Lightning Element still gave him a little trouble. His eyes glinting with determination he swore that he would be able to successfully use this Ninjutsu by the end of the week.**

**With Yugao**

Yugao made her way to the Hokage's office after her spar with Naruto. She was surprised to learn that he had started using his blade only for a mere few days. He wasn't an amateur with the blade at all, sure he made mistakes but they were far less obvious to unskilled opponents.

'_He would be fun to teach._' Yugao thought excitedly.

She reached the tower and the secretary of the Hokage nodded for her to enter the room. She entered and saw all the Jounin Sensei's for the current batch of Academy students standing before the Hokage. Kakashi saw her and nodded his head slightly. The Hokage ordered them to report their results of the tests. Only three other Jounins excluding herself had passed their team. Yuuhi Kurenai, Sarutobi Asuma and Hatake Kakashi were the only ones whose teams had passed their tests. She thought it interesting that between the three of them they had all the clan heirs in their teams, excluding Naruto of course, but she didn't think that others knew that fact as yet. The Hokage had told her in confidence that Naruto would be officially inducted into the Council after he had been a Ninja of Jounin rank for at least 5 years, in the meantime he would have a proxy that would handle the matters concerning his clan. That was all that she knew concerning that matter.

The Hokage then dismissed the other Jounins and informed them the rest of them of their duties and responsibilities.

As she was leaving, she was called by Kakashi. She went over to him and asked, "Did you want something Kakashi-san?"

"I was wondering if it would be possible to have both our teams engage in joint Training exercises?" Kakashi asked.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up Kakashi-san. Naruto-kun and Sasuke seem to have a history and with the way Sasuke treats Sakiko, it would be a disaster waiting to happen." Yugao said.

"Ah. . .I know that, but the council forced me to pass Sasuke, and with the way he is right now I was hoping that having a rival would be conductive to his growth. Whether I like it or not, he is a part of my assigned team. Please give my request further thought." Kakashi stated.

"Sure, but no promises." Yugao said noncommittally.

"That is all that I ask." Kakashi said.

**Timeskip - One Month**

Over the past one month Team 11 had grown together as a team wonderfully. On a typical day, Team 11 would meet at the training ground early in the morning, do some teamwork exercises, and would finish one of the endless and horrifying D-Rank missions before lunch. They did most of the missions that they didn't mind doing themselves and used Naruto's and Yugao's Kage Bunshin for the rest of them. They had completed the prerequisite number of D-Rank missions required of a Genin team before they were qualified for the C-Rank missions; they just had to wait for the required time i.e. a month before they could take up the C-Rank missions. She had asked Naruto and her team about Kakashi's proposal of joint training and had received a vehement and unanimous disagreement to the prospect. She hadn't really tried to convince them otherwise as she felt the same way. They had a few run-ins with Team 7 and Yugao had to admit that Sasuke coupled with his loyal fangirl Sakura and the last member of the team, Sai, a pale skinned boy who made unnecessary references to inappropriate body parts in his regular speech with an emotionless face, was something that they would actively avoid meeting unless absolutely necessary.

Yugao had found fast friends in Mei and Sakiko and was pretty certain that she was falling and falling _hard_ for Naruto. They had gone out on a couple of dates, but she preferred to spend her free time with Naruto, regardless of whether she was on a date or not. And if she wasn't grossly misreading their time spent together, she knew that Naruto felt the same way. She couldn't say that she outright loved him with all her being, but he was definitely someone close to her heart.

It had been three days since Naruto had informed her about his bloodlines, all that she knew before that was that he just had a Bloodline and was thus qualified to start his own Clan; or as the case might be, revive it. She had been floored when Naruto had told her that he possessed the Sharingan but her interests lay more with his Soul Blade Bloodline. She had admitted to him that she was a little jealous after hearing the details of the Bloodline, any competent practitioner of Kenjutsu would kill for an ability such as that. Naruto had called her to his home today, skipping morning training saying that he had a surprise for the girls. She was currently walking towards Naruto's house with Mei and Sakiko after they had finished their morning training.

"Do you guys have any idea about what Naruto-kun's surprise is going to be?" Yugao asked her companions.

"Not a clue. You can never know with Naruto-kun, he's pretty sneaky." Mei said.

"I just hope he isn't planning one of his pranks." Sakiko said, gulping audibly. Naruto's pranks were hilarious, but she wouldn't ever want to be a victim.

They discussed some of their favourite pranks played by their favourite blonde as they walked closer to Naruto's house. Mei had the keys and they proceeded to go down to the training grounds. Looking around warily they began searching for Naruto, and spotted him sitting in a meditative position with Tensa Zangetsu lying flat in his lap. He exhaled once softly, and opened his eyes, his Sharingan deactivating as he did so.

"Hey there girls, excited about the surprise?" Naruto asked standing up.

The three of them looked at him with an incredulous expression on their faces, and answered together with a resounding and emphatic "YES!".

Naruto chuckled slightly at their expressions and told them to sit down. He then went over to stand on the rock edge looking down he could see a small ditch before it levelled out on the other side. He turned back towards the girls.

"How far do you think the other side of this ditch is?" Naruto asked.

The girls had confused expressions on their faces, but Yugao gave her estimate nonetheless.

"Might be approximately 200 meters Naruto-kun." Yugao answered the blonde's question.

"That's very accurate Yugao-chan. And how would you pass such a distance if this ditch was a ravine and you were being pursued?" Naruto asked.

The three girls thought of that for a moment.

"I could probably use my Earth Manipulation to build a path connecting the ravine." Mei mused.

Naruto nodded and smiled at her. She was almost as fanatical about Ninjutsu as he was. They would always bounce ideas for new Jutsu off each other before trying to create it. Breaking out of his thoughts he then turned his gaze to the other two.

"Sunshin." They replied simply.

Naruto nodded at their answer. Mei looked at them and shrugged her shoulders. Naruto laughed.

"Why the sudden question Naruto-kun?" Yugao asked.

"What would you say if I told you that I could cross it using Chakra alone?" Naruto stated.

"I would say that you are trying to prank us somehow." Sakiko said bluntly.

"Sakiko-chan." Naruto whined.

"Anyways . . . my new technique allows me to do just that." Naruto stated triumphantly.

"Sakiko-chan would you please go to the other side and throw a kunai in the ground?" Naruto asked sweetly.

Sakiko nodded and performed the required handseals and crossed the ditch and taking out a kunai threw it into the ground. She looked up at Naruto and gave him a challenging smirk.

Naruto smiled deviously at her, and loosened his arms and vanished from the sight of the three girls.

Of the three of them, Sakiko was the first that became aware of his presence first. But it might be due to the deep cerulean blue eyes were mere inches from her own. She immediately blushed at their proximity and tried looking away. But the pure love and mischievousness shining in them wouldn't let her. She sighed happily.

Naruto caressed her back as he crouched, picked up the thrown kunai and reappeared standing between Mei and Yugao.

"Amazing." Mei said.

"How did you do that? Can you teach me?" Yugao asked.

Sakiko was still silent, staring down at her feet, her face beet red.

"That was what Zangetsu-san told me is Shunpo" Naruto said and they spent the rest of the day there discussing the different ways this skill could be used in any situation. Changing their previous plans, incorporating new ideas and other related stuff.

**Timeskip - The Next Day**

Team 11 stood in front of the Hokage, requesting their first C-Rank mission.

Sarutobi nodded his head and motioned to the Chunin helper to pass him Team 11 progress reports. He read over their track record at a glance and put the reports away.

"You seem to have completed the required amount of D-Ranks, and you have been in the field for a month. Your request will be accepted if your sensei gives her approval. What do you say Yugao?" Sarutobi said puffing away on his pipe.

Yugao smiled at her team, stepped forward and said confidently, "Team 11 requesting for a C-Rank mission sir!"

Sarutobi smiled. '_Looks like Yugao is adapting to her new team rather well._'

He began shuffling through various C-Rank mission requests.

He selected something that they should have no problems with.

"There have been a few kidnappings near Iwate. Team 11 you are to investigate these disappearances and report your findings. It is an extended mission, pack supplies for a month." Sarutobi said authoritatively.

"Sir!" was team 11's response and then they walked out the office, their first C-Rank mission scroll with Yugao.

A/N: I would appreciate your ideas on how to deal with Zabusa. Please Review your thoughts.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**Chapter 12**

Team 11 were assembled at the Northern Gate of Konoha, dressed in their full Ninja gear. They didn't have to carry supplies on their person, having used Naruto's ability in Seals judiciously. They showed the necessary paperwork, to the two Chunin guards and began their journey to Iwate.

Yugao looked at her team and smiled at seeing them look around with curious gazes. She was much the same when she had left the village for the first time. They continued walking on foot for a few hours and then took to the trees, moving swiftly towards their destination.

At night they unsealed two tents and took watch with Naruto being last.

**Timeskip – Two Days**

Team 11 was nearing the town of Iwate. The mission request had come from the town's Mayor. They entered a reasonably well off town, having entertainment centres and parks with children playing in them. They had used Henge to appear as normal civilians and made their way to the Mayor's manor. After showing the gate guards the Scroll, they were led into the house where they dispelled the Henge and took their normal appearance.

The mayor was a portly man with a genial countenance on his face. Yugao was thankful that they wouldn't be dealing with pompous asses that were in a position of authority, on their first mission itself. But that was solely based on her observation, and appearances could be deceiving, she would be keeping her guard up the whole time on this mission.

"Ah, welcome to Iwate. I'm the town's mayor, Isamu Yamaguchi." He greeted amiably.

Pleasantries were exchanged and the group sat down for some tea. After talking for some time, Naruto gave a slightly pleading look to Yugao causing her to stifle a giggle that wanted to escape her lips. Mei and Sakiko smiled slightly at the expression on his face. Yugao nodded at him, and the three of them sat up a little straighter.

"Isamu-san?" Yugao questioned.

"Yes?" Isamu inclined his head in her direction, putting his cup of tea on the table.

"Could you give us a detailed account of the circumstances that led you to request this mission? Your mission request wasn't very informative." Yugao said.

Isamu sat still for a short while, seeming to be recollecting past events in his mind. He began his tale with a sigh.

"As you may have seen, Iwate is a reasonably rich town, and as such, has always been a target for bandits. We have a police force that was able to take care of the problem admirably, up until for the past year. Nearly 8 months ago, the bandits stopped attacking frequently. There were only three attacks in nearly 6 months. We thought that the bandits had given up and had left the area.

But, two months ago there was an attack on one of the trader caravans and two people were taken as hostages. The policemen escorting the caravan were grievously injured and three people lost their lives. The survivors reported that the bandits were organized in their attack, and were not fighting like brawlers anymore." Iwate was interrupted from his speech when Yugao cleared her throat and asked a question.

"Sorry for the interruption Isamu-san, but would it be possible for us to meet one of the survivors? It would help us greatly if we were able to talk to them directly." Yugao said.

"Of course, it would be no trouble at all." Isamu replied and motion with his hands for one of his attendants to come over, he spoke to him briefly before the attendant bowed and left the room.

"As soon as you would wish to, you will be escorted to the Police Headquarters." Isamu said facing them again.

"Thank you for your help, is there a reason that you waited two months before requesting the mission?" Yugao asked.

For the first time since they had arrived there, Isamu's smiling face dropped a little. He sighed slightly before speaking again.

"I was convinced by the commander of the police forces that they would be able to handle the retrieval. They have tried several times but have thus far failed to even locate the bandit camp. The families of the abducted were getting restless at their continued failure and began requesting me to hire Ninjas to help them. And that is how things have been in this town." Isamu finished sadly.

The group sat in silence for a while, each one of them thinking about the tale and the probable actions that they would need to take.

After some time the attendant informed the mayor that he had an impending appointment. The mayor again thanked them for their help and arranged for them to stay at one of the hotels in the town. Team 11 thanked him and left for the hotel, intending to meet the Police commander first thing tomorrow.

**Timeskip- That Night**

Naruto, Mei and Sakiko were staring at their room, their _single_ assigned room. Each gender group was having totally different thoughts.

Naruto was primarily thinking about the plans that they had made for the whole afternoon. He couldn't help but worry about his girls; he had sworn that he would protect them with his life. The only way that he could curb his protective streak and his conscience, allow them to be a part of the dangerous Ninja world was because they were on his team, always under his protection. He was just as protective of them that he could get without allowing it to annoy them.

The girls couldn't help but blush at the thoughts that were going around their heads. Sakiko and Mei both turned their heads towards each other grinning impishly. Yugao felt a slight twinge of jealously as she saw the both of them bound towards Naruto, a book appearing in both of their hands out of somewhere. They both took up positions on either side of him on the couch. Sakiko leant on his shoulder, her left hand playing with his hair form time to time, her other hand on the medical book resting in her lap. Mei was resting with her head in his lap and her feet dangling off the edge of the couch and was reading up on the information that Naruto had written down for her to read up on to better understand her Bloodline.

Naruto had asked for the information from Kyuubi and boy did she have a lot of information to give out. Mei had told him that she had felt a shift in her chakra while training, that she hadn't felt before. Naruto had asked her what did she think that had changed and she replied that she could feel as she was able to draw on two natures of chakra at once. They had gone over to Tsunade, who had conducted some tests and concluded that it could only be a result of a dormant bloodline.

Kyuubi had called Naruto to the mindscape and told him of her suspicions. Like Naruto she had three elemental affinities, they being, Fire, Earth and Water. Although they weren't as strong at Naruto's affinities, for a Kunoichi who had just started her career it was rare. Even Sakiko had the dual affinity of Lightning and Fire. Kyuubi had informed Naruto that she might be a descendant of a clan that was famous for using the Futton (Boil Release) and Yōton (Lava Release) techniques. She had recounted to Naruto everything that she knew and remembered about the clan and their techniques, and he had noted everything down for Mei when he woke up. Ever since then she had been trying to make the two combine together, progress was slow but it was being made.

Yugao saw the three of them reading peacefully, occasionally asking the others something that they had trouble understanding. She brought out her sword maintaining supplies and began polishing and sharpening her blade. She let her thoughts drift as she continued the repeated motions of polishing her blade. She fully understood the need that her team felt to get stronger. She knew the risks that she would be under just by staying near Naruto, but after getting to know him, she could honestly say that she wouldn't want to be anywhere else. It wasn't a hard choice, she just imagined what her life would be like if she didn't have Naruto in her life. His gentle smiles, his caring nature, even his protective streak towards them. After experiencing these in her life, she just couldn't bring herself to be apart from him. It had scared her at first, the emotional dependence she had on one person, but she came to accept it within a surprisingly short amount of time.

After she had finished her work, she looked up to see that both Mei and Sakiko had fallen asleep on Naruto, who was still awake and softly stroking Mei's hair with his hands. Naruto looked up at her and smiled sheepishly at her. Yugao couldn't help but return his smile.

Naruto carefully shifted Mei off his lap and placed her head on the couch, turning towards Sakiko, he picked her up in his arms and walking over to the bed placed her on it, kissing her forehead as he left. He did the same thing with Mei as well. He stood over them watching them sleep for some time before he went back to the couch and resumed his reading.

Yugao smiled at his actions, walked over to the couch and sat down close to Naruto.

"What are you reading Naruto-kun?" Yugao asked.

"Dad's sealing notes." Naruto replied distractedly.

"Still trying to figure out a way to free Kyuubi-chan huh?" Yugao asked inching closer to Naruto.

"Yeah." Naruto replied, a little sadness creeping into his voice.

Yugao placed her hand on his and gave it a slight squeeze. Naruto looked up at her, and stared into her eyes for a long time before he swept his gaze away from her.

"I know that you are doing everything that is possible to free Kyuubi-chan, Naruto-kun. But you have to realize that the Yondaime had to sacrifice his life to seal her in you. The Shiki Fūin (Reaper Death Seal) is no ordinary seal that can be broken down and reconstructed as desired. But, I have faith that if anyone would be capable of doing it, it would be you." Yugao said with conviction.

Naruto sighed, took a few deep breaths and smiled at Yugao.

"Thank you Yugao-chan. It means a lot to me." Saying that, Naruto leant closer to her and gave her a light kiss on the lips, as he was about to lean back, Yugao brought her hand to the back of his head and pulled him closer to her, deepening the kiss. She moaned slightly as Naruto skilfully kissed her and they separated after a long time, both of them out of breath. She smiled at the dazed expression on his face, positive, that it was mirroring her own.

Yugao smiled happily and scooting closer leant against his side, his hands holding her against him, enjoying her time with him.

**Timeskip – The Next Morning**

Team 11 were being escorted to the Police Headquarters by the Mayor's attendant. They had discussed the questions that they wanted answered and decided that Yugao would be the one doing the questioning. They entered the office of the Police Commander and were put instantly on guard by the scowl present on his face.

"So you are the _Ninjas_ that the mayor had requested assistance from. I have to say, I don't think that you _kids_ understand the gravity of the situation. I had expected better."

Mei and Sakiko bristled slightly at his comments, but their faces didn't reflect their feelings. They calmly stared at him, as if waiting for him to speak.

'_The pompous, arrogant ass._' Yugao thought, groaning inwardly. This could complicate matters.

Naruto was staring at something right above the left shoulder of the man, his expression appearing bored, ignoring the man completely.

"We would like to ask some questions to one of the survivors of the bandit attack two months ago." Yugao stated in a monotone.

"Why do you want to speak about the past? There is nothing to it, they attacked, and we lost. End of story." He huffed.

"There are things that you might have missed. It would help us." Yugao said.

"Look here, girl. I have been protecting the town for 13 years. I doubt that your team has even been alive for that long." He sneered, looking at Naruto.

Naruto was pointedly staring at the same spot.

The man glared at Naruto for a while before he ordered them out of his office. Naruto was the last person to walk out, and just as he was closing the door he looked at the man in the eye and released a focused burst of KI (Killing Intent) at the man, and was rewarded as the man failed about in his chair before falling down, a horrified expression on his face.

"Well, that could have gone better." Sakiko said with a sigh.

"That man is a right bastard. The nerve." Mei said.

"I don't think that he will be bothering us anymore." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Huh?" the girls asked as one.

Naruto waved his hands dismissively, "I'll tell you about it later."

They walked out of the compound and made their way to the hotel. On the way, Yugao explained to them that this was a common occurrence with clients who were assigned Genins. They couldn't believe the fact that what were children in their eyes were, indeed, trained to handle such jobs. They had to work around that problem the best that they could. They understood it, but it didn't mean that they had to like it.

Once back in the hotel, they made plans. They would go investigate the area surrounding the site of the attack, in the afternoon. Any tracking methods would fail; it had simply been too long since the attack. They would have to search for the bandit camp on their own. They were wary to begin the search; right up until Naruto reminded them that he could simply summon a few hundred clones to do the searching for them. That had put a smile on their faces.

**That Night**

Team 11 had finished analyzing the site in the afternoon and in the night they had stealthily made their way to the site. Naruto created pairs of Kage Bunshin, and sent them to search for the base. If they were to find the base, one of them were to dispel, informing Naruto of its position and the other would be able to continue observing the base till Naruto got there.

After sending out approximately 200 clones, they waited for one of the clones to inform Naruto about their success. After waiting for nearly four hours, they struck gold. One of the clones had spotted the base with his Sharingan. Naruto was surprised to learn that the entrance to the base was covered in a Genjutsu. It was a low level technique, but the stakes had risen slightly with the possibility of Ninja involvement. It was no wonder that the local police force hadn't been able to find the base.

Naruto dispelled his clones after half an hour, waiting to see if it was spotted; and sorting through the memories, drew a map of the surrounding region. As soon as the first clone had dispelled, the others had gone straight towards the camp and scouted out the area. It allowed Naruto to make a map, of the bandit camp perfectly and with his calligraphy skills, born due to his constant use of sealing; it was quite accurate and detailed.

The girls sat there silently as he sat there drawing the map. They were mesmerized by his drawings and the utter concentration that he worked with, it was one of the qualities he had that they admired. After he had finished, they sat down and analyzed the map.

There was cave that led to an open area; this was where the first gate was. It followed a narrow path that was littered with watchtowers, manned by two men. They were strategically placed to cover all the blind spots of the other towers. Another gate led to a large clearing that was apparently used as a housing area; there were individual tents that they figured must be where the bandits used to sleep. Another huge gate was up ahead. Naruto's clones couldn't get a good look at the area, it was too well hidden. They postulated that the area must be where the leader was, as it was quite small and there was a large cliff on the other side, combed in barbed wire.

The only way to access the area was through the bandit camp itself. They were suitably impressed with the bandit stronghold. It was virtually impossible for the policemen to infiltrate, but they were Ninjas and would find a way. They decided that they would be carrying out the mission tomorrow night.

**Timeskip – The Next Night**

Team 11 were waiting for Naruto to gain them access into the camp. They had informed only the Mayor of their intentions, and had asked him to keep the information to himself. Naruto was to infiltrate the cave and then they would move up to the narrow passage.

They heard nothing apart from the sounds of the insects of the night, slowly, they could see the end of Naruto's sword strike through the door and he made a gap wide enough for them to pass through. It was a testament to his stealth skills that they had been totally unaware of the exact time that Naruto had completed his work. Yugao was the first one to pass followed by Sakiko and Mei. They had arrived at the narrow path, arguably the hardest part of the mission.

Yugao nodded to Naruto. Took out her sword and scanned the nearest watchtower. She and Naruto would knock out the guards and replace them with Naruto's Kage Bunshin under a Henge. Bandits weren't trained professionals, and thus would have a hard time fighting against even a respectable Genin, and considering Naruto and Yugao's skill they systematically went up to each watchtower and completed their work. There were a few close calls, but they handled it admirably. After they had reached the second gate and took care of the guard. The four of them then went up to each tower and tied up the bandits in Ninja Wire, barring their escape, that is, if they were going to wake up anytime soon. Judging by the lumps on their faces and necks, it was an impossibility, but hey, it didn't hurt to make sure.

Naruto glanced at his teammates worriedly, this was the part of the plan that had been argued and pondered over for the longest time. Naruto's gut was telling him that something was off; the mission was going too well for his liking. Curbing his instincts, he nodded once and motioned with his hands to get back, they moved away from the gate. Naruto backed up a little as well, standing a little distance away from the middle of the gate; he rapidly went through some handsigns and whispered.

Fūton: Fuujin Seiken (Wind Release: Divine Fist of the Wind God)

He held his hand to his sides, two humongous ethereal fists at the side of each hand, he raised his right hand, the fist made of wind following the same movements, before he jabbed it in front of him quickly followed by his left fist. The doors dented a bit before being blasted off their hinges, announcing their arrival to the whole camp.

Naruto grinned.

'_Let's get this party started._'

A/N:- I know this might annoy some people, but . . . meh. As always, hope you had fun reading and Please Review and don't forget to cast your vote on the poll on my profile page.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**Chapter 13**

Mei and Sakiko were hiding in the trees, watching as Naruto pulverized the gate guarding the entrance to the largest area of the camp. They waited as both Yugao and Naruto rushed into the camp, making short work of the bandits that were barely ready for an attack. As soon as the pair had cleared a path, they jumped into the fray and without stopping, trusting Naruto and Yugao to take care of any bandits that may have spotted them, sprinted at the main gate, where they presumed the bandit leader to be. It was in a slightly elevated position that allowed them an unobstructed view of the clearing below them.

Approaching the gate, they saw two guards that were standing at the gate, looking around nervously, obviously worried about the commotion that they could see going around in the clearing in front of them. They stopped and getting a good look at them, Sakiko nodded at Mei.

Mei acknowledged, and making a few rapid handsigns; and emulating Naruto, whispered.

Doton: Dosekiryū (Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon).

The bandits saw the earth distort a short way away from them. Their gazes turned fearful as a dragon head formed, its jaws opened menacingly, its body forming shortly after and charged at them, roaring loudly, with amazing speed. They were slammed against the gate and the two of them slid down the gate groaning and slumped to the ground unconscious. Mei panted slightly, that jutsu of hers still took a significant toll on her budding Chakra reserves. Mentally thanking Naruto, she immediately began channelling her lost Chakra from her ring, filling up her reserves to its full capacity.

The two girls, walked up to the door, their stances tense, ready for anything. The gate before them was deformed, but still hanging on to its hinges. Standing right in front of the gates, Sakiko closed her eyes and concentrated. Tsunade had taught her the basics of the Chakra empowered punches that she was famous for, she was still not proficient enough in it; it took her a lot of time and concentration to make it work; thus making it useless in battle situations. But she had all the time that she needed right now.

Mei backed away as she saw Sakiko concentrating; she knew what she was going to do after all, and the farther away that she was the better. She glanced at the battle taking place below in the clearing worriedly. She knew that Naruto was capable of handling a horde of bandits, but it didn't lessen the innate worry that she felt for her partner. She looked back at Sakiko, and noticing that she was ready, backed away. Sakiko dashed at the gate and punched it. There was loud booming before the gates, fell forwards with a loud thud.

They were expecting to see a lot of things, but nothing could have prepared them for what they saw in front of them. There were at the very least 50 bandits standing behind their leader. The leader was a hulk of a man, easily pushing 7 feet in height. He had a long vertical scar going down the left side of his face, going over his eyes. He had two huge axes in his arms, with jagged ends, which looked really heavy. The bottom half of his face was covered by his unkempt beard, brown in colour. He was wearing battle armour, with gauntlets on both of his arms. Both Mei and Sakiko gulped slightly, not looking forward to fighting him at all.

"Welcome, pesky meddlers, to my camp. My name is Twinblade and I have been waiting for you . . ." he said, laughing maliciously. He motioned with his hand, swinging one of his axes forward towards them, and the bandits standing behind him charged forward each uttering a battle cry, murder in their eyes.

With Naruto and Yugao

Naruto and Yugao were fighting bandits left and right. They were using their Taijutsu to incapacitate the bandits leaving them downed. As they made their way to the centre, they heard a loud booming noise and could see the last gate fall in their peripheral vision. Naruto was distracted, and looked over at the gates, trying to catch a glimpse of the situation. A bandit, taking advantage of the situation ran forward. Naruto whipped around suddenly, spun slightly as the bandit swiped his sword down at his position. Naruto caught his free hand in a firm grip, and kicked him in the head twice, first towards the right and then letting go of his hand, connected his head with a strong kick towards the left sending him flying. Mentally berating himself for his lack of concentration, he charged again into the midst of bandits.

Things continued in the same manner for some time, before Naruto sensed a presence near the far end of the clearing. Utilizing Shunpo to get to a safe area, he closed his eyes and sent out his Chakra in waves, using it as sonar. This was the basic principle behind a ninja's Mental Vision. He determined the source and went towards it. He passed Yugao and told her of his findings. Yugao nodded, and the two of them made their way to the area, theorizing that this must be the ninja responsible for the placement of the Genjutsu on the cave entrance.

They stopped in front of the tent that housed the man. As he walked out, Naruto observed that he didn't appear to be a Ninja at all, a gifted brawler at best. He was a tall man, approximately 6 feet, dark skinned and wearing armour with the chest plate shaped as the mouth of a roaring lion. He was wielding a Zanbato with the blade curving from halfway through the sword. He smirked at the two of them.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

Yugao and Naruto stared at him incredulously.

"Answer my question, you damn ninjas." He thundered.

"You have two traders that you have captured, we are here to retrieve them and rid this area of you bandits." Yugao answered calmly, drawing out her blade as she did so.

"So, you are the enemy then?" he asked, a clueless expression on his face.

'_Man. . . . This guy has to have some screws missing from his head._' Naruto thought.

Both Yugao and Naruto didn't answer his question.

"You are my enemies, I kill my enemies." He said pointing his finger at them and charged forward.

Yugao clashed her sword with him, immediately regretting it. The man was a powerhouse, she had to channel Chakra into her arms in order to block his blow, and not have her arms broken. She redirected his sword towards the ground. She swung her sword at his chest in a horizontal strike, but her sword just bounced off his armour.

Meanwhile, Naruto was dealing with the bandits that had followed them to their location. He had been fighting, but his mind kept wandering to Mei and Sakiko. They should have been back by now, worried he quickened his pace and soon there were only about 20 bandits left. As he was charging forward, a sudden cheer came from the direction of the last gate.

Naruto's heart clenched as fear gripped him. He glanced back at Yugao, who was still fighting the strange man. He knew that if they were aiming to kill, this would have been amazingly easy, but the mayor had requested that the bandits be handed over to the police force. Clenching his fists tightly in frustration, he decided that the life of his girls was infinitely more important than some taint on his Ninja career.

He flashed through some handsigns, and leaning slightly backwards, said.

Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

The 20 approaching bandits were blown back violently, rolling through the ground. Some were moaning in pain, some lay completely still.

Naruto quickly utilized his Shunpo, using it multiple times, and arrived at the gate. Rage exploded out of him as he saw the sight before him.

With Yugao

Yugao had also heard the cheer and grew worried for her friends, and students. She glanced at Naruto, and saw him blow back the bandits with a well placed jutsu, immediately making his way towards their position. She was proud that he cared for the girls enough that he didn't let anything stand between his way; not that she expected anything less from him. She hadn't yet discussed with her team what to do in such cases, figuring that it would be a while before such a situation arose. Deciding to go there and help Naruto, she channelled Wind Chakra, her affinity, into her blade and charged at the unnamed man. She was surprised when her sword failed to pierce his armour again, just leaving a deep cut where her sword had hit him.

"Surprised?" the man asked a sneer on his face. "This armour has Chakra constantly flowing through it, nothing can get through it." He said arrogantly, thumping his chest plate to emphasise his point.

'_This changes things. I doubt that I will be able to subdue him, there isn't enough time._' Yugao thought, getting into a Battojutsu stance.

Suddenly, there was an explosion of chakra that sent tingles up her spine. Both of them turned towards the final gate, and what they saw was something that would remain with them for as long as they lived. A pillar of visible chakra was erupting forth from there, pitch black in colour.

'_Naruto-kun._' Yugao thought, as she felt a feeling of safety and protection fall over her. It was the most amazing feeling that she had ever felt, she could practically _feel _Naruto's determination and love for her, she had no doubt that the others were feeling the same.

She looked at her opponent and wasn't surprised to see him sweating profusely. He looked as if it was hurting him to even stand straight. Steeling her resolve, she again took her stance, saturating her blade with her chakra, compressing it as much as she could to gain maximum penetration.

"Kuzu-Ryu-Sen (Nine Headed Dragon Flash)" Yugao whispered, virtually disappearing from her opponents sights.

It was the most powerful technique that she was capable of performing. It belonged to her family's sword style, the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu. It was this that had allowed her to swiftly rise up through the ranks. No one knew of it, all the enemies that she had used it against were not left in any condition to tell anyone about it. Being dead does have that side affect. All that the Konoha Shinobi knew was that she was a master swordswoman, and she had strived to keep it a secret. She was positive however, that she would be teaching Naruto her sword style sometime.

She appeared directly in front of her opponent, and slashed at him in the nine vital points, so fast that he felt as if they were attacked simultaneously. He fell to the ground, his armour destroyed beyond repair, hanging on to his body in bits and pieces.

By the time he fell to the ground, undoubtedly dead, she had already started making her way after Naruto.

**Earlier- With Mei and Sakiko**

Mei and Sakiko were staring aghast at the charging bandits. Sakiko was the first one to snap out, and immediately began going through handsigns. Seeing that, Mei took out a few kunai and threw them towards the legs of the charging mob. Some of the bandits stopped, clutching their legs in pain, but the rest swerved around them unimpeded. By this time Sakiko had finished, and taking a huge gulp of air, said,

Katon: Karyuu Endan (Fire Dragon Flame Projectile)

That stopped the bandits right in their tracks. They began panicking and turned around, but a huge figure appeared in front of them, directly in line with the fire dragon. The two girls stared horrified at the leader of the bandits, Twinblade, stand firmly in front of the charging dragon. When the flames died down, the only thing that he had to show for it were a few singed hairs and some burns on hands and neck.

"I-Impossible." Stated Sakiko, an expression of denial on her face.

Twinblade turned around to face his bandits and span in their direction, muttering "Pathetic." And then shouted at them, "Just look at yourselves, running away like scared little children from a pair of girls. Do I have to do every damn thing around here?" he said, grumbling at the end.

Saying that, he charged up at the girl's position.

**With Naruto**

Naruto stared at the crumpled form of Mei against the tree. And then, he turned furious eyes towards the culprit. Unluckily for him, he was choking Sakiko as Naruto was glaring at him. Naruto's rage exploded, someone had harmed his girls, and that someone was going to pay dearly.

He released both his Chakra and Gravity seals, and taking advantage of the resulting confusion, he appeared in front of Twinblade and delivered a vicious knee to his forearm, almost shattering the bone. Twinblade immediately let go of the grip he had on Sakiko, and Naruto caught her as she was falling down. He carried her towards Mei and placed the both of them together, and Sakiko began healing Mei.

"How is she?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"She's fine, some broken bones and Chakra exhaustion. I'll fix her right up." Sakiko said softly.

"Naruto-kun, I-I'm sorr . . ." Sakiko started apologising about their inability to complete their part of the mission, but was interrupted as Naruto placed his finger on her lips.

"You did your best Sakiko-chan, that's the best I could have asked for. Take care, I'll just go and hand out some punishment." Saying that, Naruto got up and with a whispered, 'Tensa Zangetsu' brought forth his sword.

"Finally shown up you brat? Did I hurt you pretty little girls?" Twinblade jeered.

"You won't be living to regret your actions you bastard." Naruto said, his voice cold. He shut his eyes, and activated his Sharingan as he opened them.

"Ohh. . . so you can change your eyes. Big deal."

Naruto didn't answer; he just got into a loose stance, sword held in his hands, and stared at him. He was having a hard time controlling his anger; no one touched a hair on his girl's heads. Clenching his fists, he tried calming down, judging by Mei and Sakiko's condition, the leader was no slouch.

Mei, who had regained consciousness thanks to Sakiko's healing, watched as Naruto stared down his opponent. She wanted to warn him, tell him that the man was too powerful, but she held back. She trusted Naruto to hold his own, he could, after all, do it against them. The two girls watched Naruto, and had to blink their eyes several times to make sure what they were seeing was indeed happening.

Naruto's form appeared to be shimmering, while not uncommon while channelling vast amounts of chakra, it was the figure that they could see almost superimposing him that was uncommon. It had a distinctive black mask that covered his face, a mask that inspired fear into the very hearts of those that gazed upon it.

Naruto was unaware of the presence of the thing that was seen by Mei and Sakiko. Releasing a huff of air, he narrowed his eyes at his opponent.

Tired of his waiting, and slightly unnerved by the blonde brat's stare, Twinblade charged forward at Naruto, his axes held at his sides. He swung his axe vertically downwards, straight above Naruto's head. He was shocked to encounter resistance in his swing, and there was a booming sound and a dust cloud was formed. He thought that he had cleaved the brat in two. He was shocked, when the dust settled, to see Naruto stop his axe with his sword, single handed.

It was at this moment that Yugao arrived and immediately made her way to her friends. Seeing the prone form of Mei, she asked worriedly, "What happened? Are you . . ." she too had noticed Naruto's appearance and joined the girls in seeing Naruto fight.

Twinblade, while unnerved by Naruto's strength, grinned as he saw an opportunity that he thought that he could take advantage of. He grinned as brought his other axe, level horizontally with Naruto's head.

Naruto grinned.

Twinblade didn't have time to react, Naruto forced his axe back with his sword and parried his second blow in much the same manner he had done with the first. No waiting around any longer, he ran forward and slashing at his armour.

Yugao stared astonished, she hadn't been able to damage her opponent's armour with her sword, but Naruto was leaving deep grooves whenever he slashed at his opponent, who she assumed was wearing the same type of armour.

"Naruto!" she called out, "his armour protects him against attacks, and it can probably block chakra based attacks as well. Finish it as fast as you can!"

Naruto nodded and made a sealless Kage Bunshin. He dispelled Tensa Zangetsu and got into stance for his Taijutsu, Shadow Fist. He utilized Shunpo to get right in front of Twinblade and placing his hand in the middle of his armoured stomach, whispered.

"Atsuryoku Sutoraiki" (Pressure Strike).

Twinblade's armour caved in at the point of impact, and he was propelled backwards, straight in line with Naruto's Kage Bunshin, waiting there with a swirling mass of black chakra held in his hands. Just as Twinblade was about to collide with him, he rammed his hands into his back, with a quiet whisper of, "Rasengan"

Twinblade's body was seemingly suspended at the place before he shot back at the original Naruto's position, as if shot from a cannon, small bits of dirt and wing flying around his body, due to the Rasengan.

Meanwhile Naruto, who had began flashing through handsigns as soon as he had struck Twinblade, grinned and as soon as he saw that Twinblade was approaching his clone, jumped up high into the sky.

He anticipated when Twinblade was going to be directly below him, and calling out his technique softly, unleashed his fury upon him.

"Fūton: Fuujin Seiken" (Wind Release: Divine Fist of the Wind God)

Naruto slammed one of his wind-fists into Twinblade, creating craters in the ground and as he approached his second fist, the air cleared the dust surrounding Twinblade's body cleared, before an even greater tremble shot out of the ground.

Naruto landed on the ground and made his way to his awe-struck teammates.

"So~, was that fast enough for you?" Naruto asked Yugao cheekily.

A/N:- Sorry for the long wait, but I got caught up in my new Harry Potter fanfic, I anyone's interested check out my profile page.

So? How was this Chapter, I know it's annoying, having to wait before going on to the Wave arc, but I promise we will begin that in the next chapter. Thanks for reading and Please Review.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**Chapter 14**

"So~, was I fast enough?" Naruto asked his teammates cheekily.

His teammates smiled tiredly at him, and Naruto went over to Mei and Sakiko to check up on them and Yugao walked up to the downed form of Twinblade, making sure that he had been dealt with. They were the only ones in the clearing; the rest of the bandits had run off as soon as they saw their leader getting his ass handed to him. Yugao knew that they would have to deal with them, but was too tired to think about chasing them at the moment. What could a handful of bandits accomplish anyway?

Walking up to the smoking crater, she admired the amount of damage that Naruto was capable of dealing to his opponent. Sure, she had been aware of his strength during their spars, but they couldn't go all out against each other, lest they injure themselves without reason. Seeing Naruto fight had been breathtaking, he had utterly destroyed his opponent, and she had a feeling that Twinblade had been much stronger that her opponent. Shaking her head, she looked down at Twinblade's body. Amazingly, he was still alive; no doubt it was due to his armour that he was wearing, which was in bits and pieces around his body. Taking out her sword, she cut his head clean off.

'_I really need to up my training, I can't have Naruto-kun be stronger than me, and I'm his sensei, Damnit. I get to protect my cute little students.'_ Yugao thought smiling fondly, as she made her way back to her team.

Naruto caught her eye, and she gave him a short nod. She knew what he was enquiring about.

"Alright Team, let's go back to the hotel, we'll discuss the mission there." Yugao said. "Naruto, if you aren't low on reserves, please create some Clones to take care of rounding up the bandits we knocked out."

Naruto nodded, and created 50 Shadow Clones, and tossing a scroll to them, said, "You know what to do."

Naruto walked up to Mei, and gently placed her on his back. She immediately put her arms under his and hugged herself closer to his back, releasing a soft sigh as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You comfy Mei-chan?" Naruto asked softly. She was injured after all.

"Just perfect." Mei said tiredly, and as Naruto carried her back to their hotel, she fell asleep to the rhythmic motions of Naruto's soft breathing.

"_Naruto, please come visit me as soon as possible, it is urgent."_ Naruto was startled by Zangetsu's voice, and nearly lost his footing. He wondered what was it that he wanted to talk to him about. Thinking back on his fight, he remembered feeling _something_ that had unsettled him. Something that he hoped was not his thoughts. A battle-craving, bloodthirsty warrior was not something he wanted to become.

(Break)

Sakiko let out a tired sigh as she flopped down on the couch in their hotel room after taking a bath together with Mei. She was still injured, and she really didn't mind helping her bathe. She was her best friend and sister-wife, and she wasn't about to let her further aggravate her injuries when she was capable of helping. Mei was sleeping, after she had finished her bath and Sakiko had run a diagnostic on her injuries again.

She let out a startled "Eep" when she felt something cold press against her cheek. Looking sideways, she saw a grinning Naruto holding a can to her face. Scowling playfully, she swiped the can from Naruto's hands and opened it taking a deep gulp of the refreshing juice.

Naruto sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. Sakiko leaned on him, and continued sipping from her can. She thought back to the fight that she had, and couldn't help but feel angry at herself for not being strong enough. Naruto had to come and rescue her again.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Hmm . . . What for, Sakiko-chan?" Naruto asked as he tightened his grip around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him. Sakiko trembled slightly as her mind began to play images before her, all of them showing brutal possibilities of tonight's events. She closed her eyes and buried her face in Naruto's chest, trying to rid her mind of these images.

"I-I wasn't strong enough. You told me that you didn't like the plan, but I acted like a spoiled kid who doesn't get her way and forced you to follow through with the plan. I-I nearly got Mei-chan killed. I-I was nearly k-killed." Sakiko said, her sobbing muted by Naruto's chest.

"It wasn't your fault Sakiko-chan. The blame doesn't lie with anyone, circumstances forced our hand, and at the end of the day, as long as I have all of you, together with me, I try not to think about it." Naruto said gently, kissing the top of her head.

Sakiko thought about Naruto's words, going over them in her head. It was a really corny way to look at things, but thinking about it, she realized that it helped calm her down immensely.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. I promise that I will get stronger, be it any circumstance, I will be ready for it." Sakiko said, as she tilted her head up, looking at Naruto directly in his eyes, determination shining in her eyes.

"You and me both, Sakiko-chan. You and me both." Naruto said.

(Break)

After Naruto had deposited Sakiko on the bed, Naruto tucked both Mei and Sakiko in. He heard the door to their room, close and figured that Yugao must be back after informing the Mayor of their success. They had been unable to locate the kidnapped merchants, but the bandits were taken care of.

"Yugao-chan?" Naruto questioned unnecessarily, he had identified her Chakra signature already.

"Yes." Came the tired reply. Naruto walked over to the hall, and saw Yugao sitting on the chair, her head thrown back rubbing her forehead tiredly.

"That bad?" Naruto asked.

"The Mayor was pleased enough by our mission, but that bastard head of Police was there as well. I could barely keep myself from killing him on the spot." Yugao said.

Naruto remained silent. He had a feeling that he was the one who had informed the bandits of their arrival, he would make sure that the Mayor was aware of his suspicions.

"Anyway, how are the girls?" Yugao asked. She sat up upright, and sunk down into the chair.

"Mei will make a full recovery by tomorrow morning, and Sakiko was a bit exhausted due to using up too much of her Chakra, but she wasn't physically harmed." Naruto said sombrely.

"What about you?" Yugao asked.

"I'm as fit as a Bijuu." Naruto exclaimed exuberantly.

"I'm sure." Yugao said smirking, and got up going towards the bathroom. "You should sleep, we have to get back to Konoha tomorrow evening, and it's almost dawn."

Naruto nodded non-committaly and seated himself onto the floor, crossing his legs and closed his eyes, appearing inside his Soul-Scape. He wondered what it was that Zangetsu wanted to talk to him about.

(Break)

"So what's so urgent Zangetsu-san?" Naruto asked.

"Did you feel anything different while you were fighting earlier?" Zangetsu asked bluntly.

"I-I don't know. Maybe." Naruto replied.

"Try and remember Naruto. It is of the utmost importance that you do." Zangetsu said.

"I-I felt like . . . a monster. I wanted to kill him, rip him to pieces. To . . ." Naruto said, unable to continue saying anything.

"I was afraid of that." Zangetsu sighed. This could complicate matters for his wielder if it wasn't nipped in the bud.

"What do you mean?" Naruto questioned hesitantly. He didn't like the sound of that.

"You told me that Kyuubi-san had channelled her Chakra throughout your body when you gained the Sharingan, is it not?" Zangetsu asked. He started moving towards Naruto.

"Yes. But I thought it had no effect on my other Bloodlines. She told me so." Naruto said.

"That is where you are wrong. It did have an effect." Zangetsu said. He was standing right in front of Naruto now.

"What was it?" Naruto asked. Fear began gripping his heart. Things were going so well for him recently. He knew that there would be something that would put a wrench in his relatively happy life.

"Uzumaki Arashi." Zangetsu said shortly. He hoped that hearing his story would help him deal with his problem.

"What?" Naruto asked confused. Really, what was Zangetsu playing at.

"He was the first Uzumaki to successfully manifest his Blade. You could say that he was the founder of the Uzumaki clan. Much like you will be for your generation. He was the strongest person alive during his time, and his power was what led him to a situation much like yours." Zangetsu said.

"Could you tell me the situation I am in first?" Naruto asked a bit annoyed. He was tired of Zangetsu's round-about way of teaching things. Normally, he wouldn't mind, but this was different.

"An alter-ego. That is what has been created inside you. You might have created it much later in your life, but due to Kyuubi-san's Youki, the process seems to have been accelerated. I think that it is advantageous that it had happened now." Zangetsu said calmly.

"Advantageous? How can having a split personality be advantageous?" Naruto asked incredulously. He didn't know much about split-personalities. But what he did know was that most of the Ninjas that had this problem were forcibly retired of either turned traitor to their Village, going off on their own to complete whatever task that their alter-ego demanded of them.

"It is advantageous that I am sufficiently powerful enough that I can control him." Zangetsu said in the same calm voice of his. You would think that he was commenting on the weather.

"Him?" Naruto asked warily.

"Yes. He is a part of you, but inside the Soul-Scape, I can forcibly keep in control. If I were to let the control go, he would manifest himself here as well." Zangetsu said.

"So I will be . . . myself?" Naruto asked, hopefully. He was honestly afraid of what his alter-ego was capable of. And he hadn't even met him!

"Yes, but only for the time being. He grows stronger the same as you. Eventually I won't be powerful enough to control him. It would be best if we take care of this now. I wouldn't have you meet the same end as Arashi." Zangetsu said. His voice glinting with determination.

"How do you know him?" Naruto asked with a quizzical expression. He had noticed that Zangetsu spoke of Arashi as if he knew him personally.

"Arashi . . .he was my first wielder." Zangetsu said.

(Break)

" . . . that's all Hokage-sama." Yugao finished giving her report.

"Well done Team 11. Excellent work, and congratulations on your first C-Rank mission." Sarutobi said. This was the first team of this generation that had completed a higher class mission. Despite the strained relationship with Naruto, he was proud of him. He was growing up to be a Ninja that would make his parent's proud.

Team 11 smiled glumly at their accomplishment, vowing collectively to grow stronger to make sure that such an event didn't occur again.

Sarutobi watched their muted response and raised a questioning eyebrow at Yugao. She shook her head in response, indicating that she didn't know what was wrong either.

" Since you have completed the mission much earlier than expected, you can either have the rest of the time off or you can begin taking missions after you have been properly rested. I would recommend that you take a few D-Ranks before you shoot for another higher mission. Very well, you are dismissed." Sarutobi said.

Yugao watched her team walk out the Hokage tower silently. She knew perfectly what was wrong with them, heck; even she was feeling that she needed to get stronger. But she had a feeling that there was something else that was bothering Naruto. He had been unusually silent throughout their way back and didn't interact much. Mei and Sakiko who had gotten used to his affectionate ways and constant closeness were feeling even worse. She just hoped that he would get out of his funk quickly. Looking at her team, she didn't realize the contribution that Naruto made in their team, as well as their lives. Without his sunny disposition, they were utterly lost.

(Break)

**Soul-Scape**

Sounds of metal clanging together could be heard, echoing throughout the area that Naruto was sparring in. He quickly ducked under a sideways slash and dashed towards Zangetsu's open guard, stabbing his sword at him. Zangetsu, stepped sideways avoiding the lethal strike and brought up his sword just in time to block another of Naruto's swing. They tested their strength against each other for a little while, and as soon as Naruto felt that he was losing, jumped back and put some distance between them.

"You are progressing admirably. It is time that you face your other self." Zangetsu said his tone even. He wasn't even breathing hard after two hours of fighting. Naruto was in much the same condition.

He had come straight to his training grounds in his basement. He had avoided meeting with his Baa-chan and Nee-chan and had virtually locked himself inside. He had not even visited Kyuu-chan last night. But seeing as she was inside him, and was privy to everything that was going on with him, she understood his reasoning perfectly, even though she thought that it was perfectly stupid. She had decided that if he didn't fess up to his girls in the next few days, she would give him a headache that he would remember his whole life.

"Yeah. I think that I am ready." Naruto said, steeling his nerves for what was about to come.

"I will stop the fight as soon as I think that you are losing." Zangetsu said helpfully. That relieved his nervousness a bit.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Naruto said sarcastically. Zangetsu had informed him that his real body will be under danger and would start rampaging as soon as he began fighting his alter-ego. He had placed Chakra suppression seals covering his whole body, and had upped his Resistance Seals to the maximum. He hoped that it would be enough. He had also had the forethought to place a Silencing Seal on himself as well. As to the sounds that he may make if he would begin destroying his Training grounds, he hoped that the other residents would think that he was simply training.

Zangetsu smiled as he began to fade, and as soon as he was invisible, or vanished to god knows where, a ripple appeared in the fabric of space in front of Naruto. He got into a ready stance a soon as he had spotted him. Fat lot of good that did him, because as soon as he saw him, his jaw dropped and he resisted staring at his opponent.

It was practically his twin, except that he had slitted red eyes, and his Hair was blood red.

"Yo! The names' Yami and I think you have lived long enough."

(End Chapter)

A/N:- First of all, sorry for the long delay. I got caught up in my Harry Potter story and couldn't tear myself away from writing that story. So then I will be updating each of my stories at-least once a week from now on . . . no promises though.

I would like your opinion if I should add another mission before going to the Wave Mission or should it be the next one. Review!


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Chapter**** 15**

Mei and Sakiko along with Tsunade and Shizune were sitting in the hall of their home, listening to the sound of loud bangs and crumbling boulders that were coming from the basement that had the training room. Tsunade cast an enquiring look at the three girls and asked, "Do you girls have any idea what brought this on?" Naruto had gone straight to the training grounds as soon as he had come home after delivering their Mission report.

Mei and Yugao shook their heads negatively. Tsunade noticed that Sakiko didn't reply and asked her, "Do you know something about this?"

"I'm not sure but I talked to him after the mission, and he said that he needed to train to get stronger. So do I, for that matter." Sakiko said, muttering at the end. They sat around there hearing to the sounds for some time. Not being able to take sitting around any longer, she got up.

"Tsunade-sensei, I am having a bit of trouble with my speed in warping Chakra, could you help me with it?" Sakiko asked with a determined expression adorning her face.

"Now?" Tsunade asked with a sigh. She had been looking forward to a relaxing evening. Sakiko nodded firmly.

"Fine, but you better get it right this time." Tsunade said

"Yes. Thank you, Sensei." Sakiko said and got up to follow Tsunade towards a Training ground. Their regular training ground was sealed off by Naruto right now.

Mei immediately looked towards Yugao as soon as Sakiko left with Tsunade, a pleading expression on her face.

"No. You aren't training today; your body is still healing." Yugao put her foot down on the matter.

Mei pouted.

(Break)

Naruto and Yami were staring at each other, maintaining the same distance between them as they continued changing positions, going around in a perfect circle. A malevolent grin on his opponents face was all the warning he had before he was hit in the gut, hard. He instinctively tried to right himself, controlling his urge to clutch a his battered stomach, and blocked he kick to his back and punched Yami in the side of his chest, sending him flying away from him a few feet.

Yami stood up and glared at his other self. He immediately began making handseals rapidly and snarled out his jutsu, placing his hands, palm open on the ground.

**Raiton:****Kaminari s****ā****ji**** (Lightning Release: Lightning Surge).**

Naruto, who had spotted him making the handseals immediately, and recognizing the jutsu that he was about to use, started his own handsigns. He saw astonished, as instead of the electric blue colour of the Lightning Element, black lightning made a perfect circle around Yami's hands before jagging towards his location. Just as he was about to be trapped within the technique, he called out his own Jutsu.

Fūton: Rasen bōgyo (Wind Release: Spiralling Defence)

Winds picked up around him, before it solidified visibly, swirling around him in a perfect sphere, tearing he ground underneath it due to its ferocity. He saw, encased in his defence as the lightning reacted to his shield and to his horror, his defence crumbled under the relentless onslaught of the attack. He bit back the scream hat wanted to tear away at his throat, not wanting o give his opponent the satisfaction. He dropped to his knees, as he caught his breath.

He stood up shakily, jerking his fingers and hands rapidly, hastening to bring back feeling to them. If it weren't for his high affinity for Lightning Chakra, he was sure that he would have been numb from the pain of having his nerves fried.

"What's wrong? Can't handle a dosage of your own pill?" Yami mocked a cackling grin on his face. No waiting for Naruto's response, he charged at him. In retaliation, Naruto called Tensa Zangetsu to him, and utilizing Shunpo, tried slashing Yami in half. He was shocked to see Tensa Zangetsu in Yami's hands as well, albeit it was pure white in colour. Backing away, he analyzed his opponent again. Him being able to use his sword as well required that he would need to change his plans slightly.

"Surprised? Don't be. I can to whatever you can do, only ten times better. You will never be able to beat me." Yami laughed at Naruto.

"Why are you doing this? What do you hope to accomplish?" Naruto asked. He had deduced that they had the same ability, same strength, same attacks, but still he was better than him. He couldn't figure out what was going on. If they were the same, he shouldn't be losing.

"Why? You are asking me why?" Yami asked snarling. "It is because you are weak, too weak to accomplish your goals, too weak to protect our precious people. I will defeat you, and then no one will be able to harm our family." Yami said.

Naruto was surprised to hear that. He had thought that Yami was a murdering sociopath, but after hearing that he had his doubts. Regardless, he couldn't allow their talk to distract him. He got into a ready stance.

Naruto again tried to get behind him, but his sword was blocked by Yami's and they continued clashing for a long time. Seeing an opening, Naruto took the chance and grabbing Yami's sword in his hands, slashed at his open torso. Instead of seeing Yami's blood, he was shocked when all that he saw was his blade blocked by Yami's. He was too stunned to react, and stared apprehensively the blade that was going to pierce his heart.

Suddenly, just as Yami's blade was poised to pierce his torso, Yami disappeared in a vibrant display of light. Naruto collapsed to the ground, hands holding his body away from the ground, his face staring blankly at the ground beneath him. He was dimly aware of Zangetsu who had again appeared in his sights.

He caught his breath, and shook himself. Staring resolutely at Zangetsu, he uttered only one word, "Again."

(Break)

Naruto climbed back up to the hall of his house from his training grounds tiredly, his whole body hurt. He had face against Yami, three more times and he third time he had come close to stabbing him, but it was not meant to be. Zangetsu had halted the training, and advised him against using his blade in battle, not until he had dealt with Yami. Walking around the empty house, his mind was working furiously, trying to find a way for him to defeat his other self. And here was the other bi of information that Zangetsu had supplied him with. Zangetsu knew of Naruto's efforts to release Kyuubi from her seal, and had told him to visit the birthplace of the Uzumaki clan, Uzushiogakure. All that he told him was that he might find what he needed there. When he had asked why he hadn't told him earlier, and more importantly, how he knew, Zangetsu had simply replied that he would tell him his reasons someday.

Naruto took out a packet of juice from the fridge and drained it quickly; taking out another he walked up the stairs towards his bedroom. He checked Mei and Sakiko's rooms, and finding them asleep left them, vowing o tell them about what was going on with him tomorrow. He knew that he had confused them with his actions this day, and felt bad for it. They deserved better than that.

He trudged his tired feet to his room, and was surprised to see that it was not unoccupied. Tsunade was sitting on his bed and as soon as she saw him, pated the bed beside her, indicating that he should take a seat.

He sat down silently beside her and Tsunade immediately began running a diagnostic Jutsu on him, finding a few scrapes and bruises, she promptly healed them.

"What's bothering you Naruto-kun?, and don't try to deny it, I know you better than that. Was it something that happened on the mission?" Tsunade asked gently.

Naruto sighed, he had o tell them anyway and it would be better to tell Tsunade first and gauge her reaction and tell the others an abridged version, if required. Tsunade didn't react as badly as he had expected, she just asked him if he needed any help, and Naruto told her that this was one thing that he would have to deal with on his own. Tsunade hugged him, and left him to catch up on his sleep.

(Break)

"So . . . basically you have an Evil Naruto inside your soul that wants to kill you and take over your body?" Sakiko said calmly as she sipped her morning tea.

Naruto sweatdropped slightly at the way that Sakiko had correctly shortened his situation into a single sentence.

"You know, if it were anyone else other than you, I would simply dismiss it as a bad dream." Mei said with Yugao nodding along.

"Do you think that you can beat him Naruto-kun?" Yugao asked. As per usual, she had arrived early that morning, to have breakfast with her team at her fiancé's house.

Naruto sighed. "I'm not sure; he is not a regular opponent. Essentially I'm fighting against myself, the stronger that I get, his strength increases by the same amount. If I train, he will also reap the benefits."

Mei whistled. "That's harsh."

"Tell me about it." Naruto grumbled.

"So what do you plan to do?" Sakiko asked after taking another sip of her tea.

"Train, Obviously." Naruto said.

"Huh? But I thought you said he will grow stronger with you training." Mei said.

"I can't afford to let up on my training, the last mission has taught me as much. And while we are on this matter, Yugao-chan, do you know a good place where I can get a sword forged? Zangetsu has advised against using him until I get rid of Yami. Also I need to visit Uzushiogakure, he told me there might be some information that might help in freeing Kyuu-chan over there." Naruto said.

The gazes of the three girls softened. After a short time, Yugao asked a question that she had been meaning to ask him, ever since she had known of his training methods.

"Naruto-kun, could you apply the Resistance and Chakra seals on me?" Yugao asked, blushing faintly. She knew that Naruto would get an eyeful of her body while he applied the seals, and truthfully the thought thrilled her. Naruto was being way too reserved with them, and after having a frank discussion with the other girls, she knew that they felt the same way as well. Seal Masters were very rare and the only other Master she knew wouldn't be getting anywhere near her in her undressed state.

Naruto himself was blushing at Yugao's request. Mei and Sakiko had begged and pleaded with him to apply the seals on them but Naruto had told them, honestly, that their Chakra reserves just weren't big enough to handle the seal. But the same couldn't be said about Yugao. He had no other option, and judging by the amount of Chakra that he felt from Mei and Sakiko, he knew that they were ready as well.

"Sure, I can do that for you, Mei-chan and Sakiko-chan as well. We have a break from missions this week, it would be the best time for you to get used to the seal's effects. How about this evening?" Naruto asked receiving embarrassed nods from the three girls.

That evening, Naruto could be seen carrying the sleeping and exhausted forms of Mei, Sakiko and Yugao up to their rooms, a furious blush adorning his cheeks.

(Break)

It took the girls a week to get adjusted to the seals that had been placed on them, although Yugao took only half a week, even she was struggling with the seal. They were much different than the training weights with which she had trained before.

Naruto had fought against Yami almost 3-4 times every day and was no closer to figuring out how to defeat him, but he felt that he was able to last longer against him. There was another thing that he had figured out, the reason that he was slightly weaker than him. Yami was able to utilize Kyuu-Chan's chakra, thus increasing his fighting prowess. He hadn't told Kyuubi about this as he was aware that she would unnecessarily blame herself for his predicament.

Naruto had told them, in no uncertain terms to take off their seals, at least the Resistance Seal if they were to go on a mission where they had a chance of fighting an opponent. But they had told them that they could keep the Chakra Seal on, as he had tweaked the seal to dispel on a mental command, and it was useful as a distraction in a pinch. After another week of doing D-Ranks and getting used to the seals, they approached the Hokage asking for another C-Rank mission.

"Hm . . . very well. You are to escort a bridge builder to the Land of Waves, and protect him until he completes his bridge. Prepare for a month long mission, you will be meeting the client at the East Gate in an hour. Good luck on your mission." Sarutobi said.

All the girls caught Naruto's gaze at the mission details, and Naruto smiled.

And coincidently, the mission parameters required them to travel to wave country, which was conveniently near Uzushiogakure. Naruto grinned. '_Soon Kyuu-chan, I may be able to free you from the seal._'

(End Chapter)

A/N:- Sorry for the short chapter, but I have not been able to write Naruto stories recently, dunoo why though. Anyway, tell me how I got Yami's character . . . good? Bad? Tell me!


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**Chapter 16**

Inside Naruto's Mindscape

"_**You don't have to do this right now Naru-kun**_**."** Kyuubi said. She had chosen to stay awake for the day, and would help him in guiding him towards Whirlpool Country. Being a thousand year old demon, she had a fair idea of the geography of the world, even if she hadn't ventured out much while she was sealed inside her previous hosts. She didn't know what changes that the places had undergone, but she knew the directions well enough.

'_Come on Kyuu-chan, I need to do this now, who knows when I will be going in that direction for a mission. You know I can't let anyone else know about the detour that I will be taking._' Naruto thought back. He was currently sealing up his Sealing supplies, and other things that he might need on his own personal mission. He dispelled the Kage Bunshin that he left to study and practice sealing every day, and made his way downstairs.

Kyuubi just huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She was just worried for Naruto, while it was true that he could handle himself pretty well in a fight, there was bound to come a time when he would be faring against an opponent that he just wasn't ready for. She wanted to be free of the seal; it was just that she didn't want the price to be too high**. **_**'Fine. . . .Just promise me that you will be careful, and won't take any risks, and tell me if there is any danger, and . . .**_**'**

'_Alright, alright, I get it. I don't see what you are so worried about; I'm not as helpless as I used to be.'_ Naruto was amused by Kyuubi's antics. She still tended to think of him as a child whenever there was any trouble. He honestly wondered that if he would be successful in freeing her, he would have to stop her from roasting alive someone who even looked funnily at him.

'_**You got that right! No one will be harming a hair on my Naru-kun's head without dire consequences**_**.'** Kyuubi said smugly. While she was aware of the fact that she only had one tail of chakra left with her, it didn't render her totally helpless. Even with a single tail of her chakra she was just as strong, if not stronger than the Nibi no Nekomata.

"Naruto-kun!" Came the voice of Mei from upstairs. Naruto smiled slightly as he made his way upstairs. This had happened the last time they had set out on their last C-Rank. While Mei was a brilliant ninja in her own right, Sealing was something that she always struggled with. She would try herself for a bit, and then, would inadvertently call for Naruto's help.

After he had helped a grumbling Mei with her predicament, he walked out the house and went towards Yugao's house to pick up a spare sword that she was lending him until he had resolved his issues with Yami. Even while distracted, he hadn't forgotten about Zangetsu's recommendation about the training for Shunpo, his feet never touching the ground. Right now, he wasn't feeling comfortable using Tensa Zangetsu. Yami had been constantly on his mind, and he claimed that his objective was the same as his, and Naruto wondered that if that was indeed the case, why he was fighting him at all.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he suddenly found himself at Yugao's apartment door. He had offered her a place in his house, but Yugao had politely declined, stating that it would send that wrong image to the village. While Naruto couldn't care less about what the village thought, Yugao had told him that she would move in with him as soon as he made Chunin

Yugao opened the door, already equipped for the mission, and held out a sword that she had for Naruto. It was the same blade that she had. She always kept a few spare blades, in case she may need to replace hers. The two of them together made their way to the East Gate of Konoha.

The duo reached the gates to see that both Mei and Sakiko were scowling at the client. Their client, the one they were supposed to escort and protect, was a grey hared bespectacled man with a moustache. He wore a sleeveless V-neck shirt with an obi, pants and a pair of sandals. He also carried a towel around his neck and wore a pointed hat on his head, which oddly reminded Naruto of the top of an onion.

As they neared, the client noticed the last two members of Team 11, and grumbled something. Naruto caught what he said, but chose to keep silent. After all, his statement didn't bother him too much. Mei however took offence.

"What was that! You got a death wish gramps?" Mei asked the bridge builder, glaring at him.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Yugao asked the client.

"I'll tell you what the problem here is . . . I didn't pay for a C-Ranked mission just to have a team of snot-nosed brats escort me. Where is your team leader? I wanna have some words with him." The client, who still hadn't introduced himself stated angrily.

"I am the team leader. Now I ask again, what is the problem?" Yugao asked coldly, emitting a little bit of KI to calm him down, and make him realize just who it was that he was insulting.

Tazuna, the bridge builder felt as if he was suffocating, and beads of sweat appeared on his brow, even with the short while that Yugao had held her KI on him. He quickly started making amends, it would not be advantageous for him if he were to piss of his protectors, no matter how reserved he was about their age. All he saw were three little brats and a not-so-little one as the leader after all.

"I-I a-apologize for my rudeness. My name is Tazuna, and I am a bridge builder. Please take care of me." Tazuna said bowing down slightly. Mei huffed in annoyance, while the other two smirked. They would remember this the next time a civilian harassed them.

"Just make sure that you remember that in the future." Yugao stated.

Team 11 again showed their mission scroll at the gate and left the village. After about a few hours of travel, Naruto gave his team a significant look, and disappeared into the woods, telling them that he had to take a leak. Naruto came out a few minutes later, and the group continued on their way.

Tazuna was unaware of the fact that the Naruto that had come back was just a reinforced Shadow Clone, whom Naruto had provided with a number of Chakra Seals.

(Break)

'_Be safe'_ Naruto muttered under his breath and Immediately let go of the seals on his body, he was now proficient enough that the subsequent release of Chakra would not be immediately apparent. But it still took his a lot of time and concentration, so using it in the midst of battle was not feasible. He took to the trees and immediately Shunpoed towards the direction of Uzushiogakure. The faster he got there, the faster he could return to his team.

(Break)

"Man! This is so boring." Mei said whining. She hadn't minded the last time they had gone out for the mission as it was just the four of them; there wasn't a worthless old guy to slow them down. The three present members of Team 11 were forced to _walk_ to their destination. And if Yugao's estimation was to be believed, they could look forward to the same thing for at-least 3 days. She was walking in front of the client alongside Sakiko with Yugao bringing up the rear.

And to top it off, Naruto wasn't with them.

Sakiko while not speaking her thoughts, agreed with Mei wholeheartedly. But this mission was important to Naruto, and the three of them would make sure that he would get the time for what he needed to do. They would make sure of it.

So they continued, and after a few hours of travelling on their second day, things got interesting.

Sakiko was the first one to notice the unnatural puddle of water. She motioned discreetly to Mei who nodded slightly in acknowledgement. She trusted Yugao had noticed it as well, and her faith in her ability was proven true as she caught her subtle hand movement to her sword. '_This is no normal escort mission . . . we shouldn't encounter any ninjas on a C-Rank'_. She glanced at Naruto's clone worriedly.

'_Dammit. What are ninjas doing here? This was supposed to be a relatively safe C-Rank mission. This was the reason that boss was comfortable leaving his team to go to Uzushiogakure. He would now be too far from me to receive my memories. Chakra can't travel that far back to him. I just hope that this will be the only surprise that we encounter on this mission.'_ Were the thoughts of Naruto's clone. Sure, he could handle a few encounters with bandits, but he wasn't skilled enough to be sure that he would come out of an encounter with ninjas without being dispelled. It would take only a single hit after all. Granted, these ninjas couldn't be that strong or for that matter that bright. Seriously, a puddle of water on a dirt road in the middle of summer . . . they couldn't be thinking straight.

Just as Team 11 passed the puddle, two ninjas rose out of the puddle. They wore air-masks, and were dressed in camouflage dresses. There was a short barbed chain that connected their two clawed gauntlets together. They charged the apparent team Jounin, figuring that they would need surprise on their side if they were to succeed in completing their mission. They silently charged at the Jounin, their chain dangling between them, and intending to coil it around the female Jounin, they ran in a circular fashion around her.

Just as they allowed a smirk to cross their faces at their apparent success in gutting the Jounin, she simply vanished from their sights.

(Break)

Yugao released a relieved sigh as she sensed the two charging Ninjas, Chunin in rank if she wasn't misreading their skills. She could handle this well enough herself, she would have let her team handle this if Naruto were present, but with his absence, she couldn't afford take any risks. If the council were to become aware of the little detour that Naruto had taken, Naruto's Ninja licence would be revoked and he would be locked up for treason. Needless to say, that outcome was not something that she was willing to risk.

Just as she sensed the chain come around her, she channelled chakra to her feet and dodged, appearing quite far away from the two ninjas. She spotted That Sakiko and Mei were both going through several handsigns, standing in front of Naruto, who was in front of the client. She quickly dashed towards the two Ninjas, who were just about to regain from their bearings, and slammed the hilt of her sword on one of the Ninjas faces, sending him crashing into the other, and disorienting them further.

In the meantime, Mei had finished with her handsigns first, slammed her foot on the ground and whispered out her Jutsu.

Doton: Dosekiryū(Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon).

The ground in front of Mei crumbled and a dragon charged at the two Chunin, moving forth at impressive speeds. The two Chunin didn't have time to move out of the way, use a substitution, or do anything at all. They just looked at the approaching Dragon with horrified fascination. Their minds simply couldn't process the fact that a mere Genin had used such a powerful technique.

They were slammed against a tree and one of the Ninjas got off the other and immediately hurled a glob of blood from his mouth. He helped the other ninja to his feet and they were just about to charge at their opponents, murder in their eyes, and then paled drastically as they saw the other female member of the two Genin slam her hands on the ground, and mutter something.

Sakiko had finished going through the seals for the only Ninjutsu that Naruto had taught her for the Lightning Element. She slammed her hands on the ground and muttered,

Raiton: Raikou Oonami  (Lightning Release: Lightning Surge)

Blue electricity sparked under her hands for a moment and then, the two ninjas screamed as the electricity sparked through them. Sakiko kept feeding her chakra into the Jutsu until she saw that the two Ninjas had lost consciousness. She huffed as she had expelled a bit more chakra into the technique than she had anticipated.

"Good work, Mei-chan, Sakiko-chan. Though you didn't have to . . . I was gonna attack them." Yugao smiled at her team.

"Ah . . . well, I really like using Ninjutsu Sensei, so I did." Mei said smiling happily.

"That's all well and good, but you need to avoid using Chakra if you think it is going to be an extended battle. In such cases, the victor is mostly the one who has more Chakra at the end of the fight. After all, we don't have as much Chakra as Naruto-kun does." Yugao lectured.

Mei and Sakiko nodded seriously, filing that information into their heads. They drained whatever Chakra was stored in their rings, emptying them completely and restoring their chakra to the fullest.

"Now, Tazuna-san, is there something that you failed to mention in your mission request? If there are Ninjas after you, this mission won't be a C-Rank. The Ninjas, were waiting for us, trying to ambush us. Choose your words carefully Tazuna-san, lying about mission parameters is a serious crime." Yugao said, glaring slightly at the man.

Tazuna looked at Yugao fearfully, and then sighed tiredly and began speaking, "It all started when Gato arrived in Wave Country . . ."

(Break)

Naruto huffed tiredly. He hadn't stopped the entire day, sprinting full out, and utilizing Shunpo whenever there was a free expanse of vast lands. After the whole day of running, he was finally here, Uzushiogakure was just across the small stretch of ocean, an island that was surrounded by huge mountains on three sides, and only one entrance to the village. Naruto gazed at the high mountains that surrounded the birthplace of the Uzumaki Clan. He was filled with a sense of wonderment and awe, this was the place where his ancestors lived. He just hoped that Zangetsu's advice would yield some results . . .

(End Chapter)

A/N:- As you can see, I have decided to continue this story than make a whole re-write. Sorry to all those who were looking forward to it, but I realized that I had put forth a lot of effort into this story for me to not finish it, so yeah. I know that the Wave Arc has been done so many times in countless stories, but it will be an essential turning point for Naruto and his girls.

So tell me how was it? Good? Bad? Total Rubbish? . . . .Review your thoughts!


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto

**Warnings: **Violence , Gore and Lemons(Much Later)

**Credits: ** If I may have used some Ideas that are not my own, I apologize. Some of the Jutsu's were taken from The Legend Of Kyuubi's Profile page so credit goes to him

**Chapter 17**

"So what do we do now?" Mei asked her teammates, looking at Naruto's clone as Yugao was properly dealing with the Demon Brothers, as they had been known. They were former Kirigakure Chunin Ninjas that had gone rogue. Yugao had identified them from her interrogation and also from the Bingo Book that she had with her. She hadn't yet managed to recognize everyone in the book, only the ones that were equal to her rank and above; but she was working on it.

Naruto's clone rubbed the bridge of his nose, an action that reminded the three of Naruto. Yugao had seen that Naruto was as capable as herself in giving out thought through and sensible orders, and she had encouraged this practice, only stepping in when she thought that there was a better way to do things. She had to step in a lot at first, but was proud to say that such situations were becoming scarce lately. Naruto was definitely getting the hang of being a team leader. Naruto seemed to have realized this and was steadily prompting Mei and Sakiko for ideas, cultivating their leadership skills as well. After all, it was a skill necessary for Chunins, and Naruto was determined that they pass the next Chunin Exams together.

Naruto's clone looked at Mei and prompted, "Your thoughts?"

Mei gained a thoughtful expression on her face, and Naruto saw her biting her lower lip n thought, an action that Naruto found endearing, and distracting. He just couldn't resist kissing her thoughtless, but as soon as he thought that, he would slap himself out of his daydreaming. He hadn't kissed her properly yet, and didn't push much, fearful of making her uncomfortable.

"We could ask for Tsunade-sama's help. She knows that you are going to Uzushiogakure, I'm sure that she wouldn't mind helping us out for one mission." Mei said, though she herself didn't think that the idea would hold merit.

"That wouldn't work Mei-chan. None of us have a Summoning Contract and in order to successfully contact Baa-chan, we would need to return and run the risk of getting caught out. Me deciding to abandon my team mid-mission to go off on an unsanctioned solos mission would be considered as treason to Konoha." Naruto's clone said, gently refuting her idea.

Mei pouted. Naruto chuckled at the expression on Mei's face and turned towards Sakiko.

Sakiko pondered their situation for a while, she had thought of the same thing that Mei had, and at seeing it shot down, knew that she had to come up with something better, and then as if an idea had dawned on her, said "We could continue the mission, only that, we can time our arrival at Wave Country such that Naruto-kun can reach there at the same time as well. He can already sense our Chakra, so we needn't meet up at Tazuna-san's house. We could just arrive there together."

"That's a great idea Sakiko-chan. I assume that you won't mind Tazuna-san?" Naruto's clone asked with an expressionless face, a cool gaze locked onto Tazuna's nervous figure.

Tazuna couldn't meet the gaze of the young trio, that looked like mere children in his eyes. He knew that what he was doing was wrong, but desperate times call for desperate measures. As he was introduced to the team, he had almost called off the mission. He just couldn't bear to have the deaths of these children on his conscience, but remembering the pitiable condition of his country, he decided that any help was to be welcomed. Besides, they looked powerful enough.

As the two Ninjas had attacked him earlier, he had felt something that he hadn't for a long time. Hope. Hope that these Konoha Ninjas would help in bringing wave back to its feet. But as he saw the only boy in the team, look at him so dispassionately, his hopes dimmed. But hearing his question, he couldn't agree faster. Sure, his daughter might worry for a few days, but it would be better than returning empty-handed.

"That would be great! I don't have a problem with that." Tazuna said, bowing slightly in respect.

Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"So, Team 11, have you decided on our next course of action?" Yugao asked as she came out of the woods, where she had headed to dump the two bodies.

(Break)

Naruto was walking on the surface of the sea. It was a relatively short distance that separated the landmass from the island that comprised of Uzushiogakure. After an hour of solid sprinting, leaving behind a huge trail of dispersed water, Naruto arrived on the coast of the island, the sand a pearly white in colour. He was surprised to find some boats there, and they looked relatively new and in good condition. . .

He was filled with hope, thinking that some members of the Village might have survived and made the island as their home. He suppressed his chakra as best he could, and cautiously made his way deeper into the dense woodlands that surrounded the beach. As he went deeper into the forest, he came upon a huge wall that was made of stone and would be impossible to leap over. He tried walking on it using Chakra, but to his astonishment found that as soon as his Chakra covered foot came in contact with the wall, it was seemingly absorbed into the wall, making climbing over it impossible. Naruto was confused, but theorized that the wall must be infused with seals that would absorb Chakra when it came into contact with it. Marvelling at the ingeniousness of the construction, he started walking along the wall, searching for an entrance.

He soon came upon an entrance, though it wasn't a conventional one. The wall was blown apart. He walked through the destroyed section of the wall, and walked into the Village.

The sight that greeted him was heart wrenching, destroyed homes, broken windows blowing in the non-existent wind, torn up roads and the worst of all, rotting skeletons. That was all that was left of the Village that the Uzumaki Clan had originated from.

Naruto just took in the sight mechanically, refusing to let his emotions hinder his mission. Finding whatever Zangetsu was talking about was more important to him right now, he would grieve later. Kyuu-chan was important.

Repeating that in his head Naruto headed deeper into the ruins of the once proud haven of the Uzumaki Clan.

(Break)

As Naruto neared what he presumed was somewhere near the centre of the village, He heard sounds of civilization. Quickening his steps, he came upon a sight that filled him with burning rage. Bandits. Lots of them. There were about 20 odd bandits that were seemingly using his homeland as a base or a resting spot.

Naruto ground his teeth in anger. _'How dare they use this island as a mere bandit camp? They will pay; I'll make sure of it.'_ Naruto was too far gone in his anger to even register the joyous cackle that resonated through his head. But it was this very sound that woke up Kyuubi from her slumber.

"_**Naru. . .to-kun?"**_

(Break)

In Wave Country, a man was getting annoyed. The reason for his annoyance was a very short man, immaculately dressed in a stylish and expensive business suit. The man was named Gato Himawaru, legally known as one of the richest businessmen in the Fire Country and the owner of the Gato Shipping Corporation. But in reality, he was a swine of a man. Gato was a corrupt businessman, characterized by extreme cruelty and greed. If he had even the slightest chance of getting profit, nothing would stop him. He constantly prioritized financial success over any other motives and emotions. Thus the man was very wary of him, despite being temporarily employed by him.

"Have you killed the bridge builder like I asked you to . . . Zabuza?" Gato asked arrogantly. Why should he show respect to anyone that was under his employ.

"I have sent some people that should take care of him. I will tell you when the job is done." Zabuza replied. His tone sounding bored and dripping with carelessness.

"WHAT! I paid _you_ to do the job. And what do I find? You sitting around leisurely, while I spend _my_ money for NOTHING?" Gato screamed.

Zabuza was a man who seriously didn't like being talked to with anything but respect. So his flowing action was not entirely unexpected to someone who knows him. Zabuza picked up his humungous sword, and before Gato could register an action, Zabuza's sword was held dangerously close to his neck.

"Like I told you, I will tell you when the job is done. Now get lost, you're annoying." Zabuza said, his tone changed to a cold drawl. He focused a little KI at Gato, to make his point clear.

Gato couldn't walk away any faster. _'I'll get you for this Zabuza.'_

After Gato had left, another figure walked in front of Zabuza and bowed to him.

"Any word from the Demon Brothers, Haku?" Zabuza asked his aide, and servant.

"Not yet, Zabuza-sama." Haku replied.

(Break)

Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she heard a knock on the door. Naruto and his team had left this morning on a C-Rank mission, a mission that Tsunade knew was very important to Naruto. She had thought of accompanying him, but it would be too suspicious and she didn't really want to endanger Naruto. She knew that many of her own enemies still held grudges. Shizune was at the hospital, and wasn't supposed to back until later this evening. Which meant that the person at the door was an unknown. She didn't really want to answer the door. It wasn't that she was afraid to, oh no, in order to answer the door, she would need to get up and more importantly interrupt her drinking session!

She was rarely granted the opportunity to drink with Naruto always in the house. He didn't rebuke her or even tell her to not drink, but the reproachful look that he would direct at her was a total buzz-kill, and she would be left feeling guilty afterwards. Damn that brat!

Hearing the door being knocked again, much more insistently this time; Tsunade walked towards and angrily opened the door. She was greeted by the sight of a Cat masked ANBU. "Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you urgently Tsunade-sama." He said with a courteous bow of the head.

"Reagarding?" Tsunade asked. While it was true that she had mellowed out slightly in her anger towards her Sensei, she still didn't like meeting with him.

"All I know that it was an urgent matter." The ANBU said, and promptly left with a sunshin, not wanting to incur Tsunade's wrath.

"Tch." Tsunade clicked her teeth in frustration. Figuring that she might as well go and see what her Sensei wanted, she sealed the estate and made her way to the Hokage tower, taking her own sweet time. She wasn't above petty annoyances after all.

(Break)

"**NARUTO!" **Kyuubi screamed. She could fell a foreign presence wash over Naruto's mind, and she didn't like it one bit. It was simply put, a feeling of remorseless bloodthirst. It represented all the things that Naruto preferred to avoid. And it was taking over him. Kyuubi tried flooding her Chakra through Naruto, but the feeling only intensified as she did that, leaving Kyuubi feeling helpless.

Pitch black Chakra, with taints of red began swirling around Naruto's form. His eyes bleeding into the fully mature form of the Sharingan, gifted to him by the Kyuubi. But anyone who had seen Naruto fight could attest to the fact that the look in his eyes was not normal for him at all. It wasn't the usual hardened, intimidating, calm and collected gaze that Naruto sported. Currently Naruto had a look in his eyes that could be described in a single word. _Insanity_.

Naruto swept his hand out lazily, Zangetsu materializing in his hands in a burst of Chakra. He looked at the blade gleefully, and then brought his hand up to his face, concentrating his Chakra on his hands. Naruto swept his hand downwards, a black mask, covering the top of his head, hiding his blonde hair from view. As Naruto finished swiping his hand down his face, the whole of the mask that covered his face was revealed. Four vertical white lines, starting from the back of the mask were imprinted on the mask. Two stopping just at his forehead, its ends pointed. And the remaining two going down the whole length of his face, interrupted slightly by the hollow sockets for his eyes, that were gleaming an eerie yellow in colour, branching sideways, just glancing the ends of his jaws. The mask was structured such that Naruto's ears were not covered by it, nor were his angular cheekbones. In the place of his mouth were jagged serrations that were the representation of the teeth, the teeth of a predator.

As the surge of Chakra died down, Naruto was seemingly admiring his own body. He clenched his fist tightly, and seemingly satisfied, let out a sinister chuckle.

"**Finally!" **Naruto said. His voice coming out dual-layered, with a hint of vibration, sounding utterly demonic.

The sound of shouting and what sounded like an alarm reached Naruto's ears. No doubt, the bandits had discovered that they weren't alone in their little camp. Naruto or rather Yami, watched the antics of the bandits amusedly. He lifted Zangetsu, and draped it casually on his shoulders as he began walking towards the camp.

Yami revelled as he took in the fearsome looks that the bandits were directing at him.

"**Yo!"** Yami drawled lazily.

"W-who . .What are you?" one of the more braver bandits screamed at him.

"**Hmm . . . I guess you can call me . . . hmmm . . . Yami, Yami no En** (Enforcer of Darkness)" Yami chuckled.

"W-why are you h-here? What d-do you w-want?" the same bandit questioned again. He was standing the closest to him,Yami figured he was the leader.

"**The only thing that I desire . . ."**

There was a sudden sound of buzzing static and Yami disappeared from sight, and almost instantly reappeared in front of the apparent leader, his hand impaled through his torso. Yami leaned in close to the leader's ears, and whispered, **" . . . is blood". **Saying that Yami, swiftly took out his hand from the rapidly dying man, bleeding freely through the gaping hole in his chest.

Seeing this, the rest of the bandits backed away in fear, and as Yami turned his gaze towards them they started running away in the opposite direction, screaming pathetically.

"Now that's just rude." Yami stated, his expert gaze sweeping over the fleeing bandits. He counted their numbers, and rapidly went through handsigns, finishing all 36 of them within a second. He placed his hands on the ground below him, calculating each bandit's location, and cackled.

**Raiton:****Kaminari s****ā****ji **(Lightning Release: Lightning Surge).

Black coloured Lightning, surged forward from where Yami's hand rested on the ground, and almost immediately, all 16 bandits screamed as they were encased in a pillar of black lightning. Yami enjoyed the thrilling, pain filled screams that ripped forth from the throats of the dying bandits. He kept on pumping Chakra into the technique. So lost was he in his pleasure, that he missed the tell-tale puff of smoke that characterized the completion of the Summoning Technique.

(Break)

"Why have you called me here Sarutobi?" Tsunade asked, slurring her words slightly, as she slammed the doors of the Hokage's office. On her way here, she had come across an open bar, and couldn't resist downing a drink or seven.

"Ah, Tsunade. I'm glad you could make it, please have a seat." Sarutobi said calmly. He was definitely not looking forward to the coming conversation, but he had to know something. But he winced slightly at the sight of his drunken student, which would only complicate matters.

"How have you been doing Tsunade?" Sarutobi asked pleasantly.

"Cut the crap, Sarutobi and get to the point already, I have better things to do." Tsunade said, glaring slightly.

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes at her disrespect. If it were any other ninja he would have put him on probation immediately, but Tsunade was one of the Sannin of Konoha, and any action taken towards her would need a solid backing.

"Very well, I need to ask you something about Naruto." Sarutobi stated.

Tsunade as soon as she heard Naruto's name, immediately focused all her concentration on the conversation. She sent a burst of Chakra, converting it into Medical Chakra, and purged the alcohol out of her system. T left her head throbbing n pan, but it soon subsided.

"What about him?" Tsunade asked coolly.

Sarutobi immediately noticed the change, but ploughed on with his next question.

"How is he doing? Does he have any problems; I read that their last C-Rank mission was a bit hard on the team?" Sarutobi questioned. Naruto was the container of the Kyuubi, and was the only Jinchurikki that was in the possession of Konoha. It would not do if he was traumatized. Sarutobi cared for him like his own grandson, but there was a fine line that he had to walk in order to perform his duties as the Hokage and also care for Naruto.

"Naruto is more than capable of handling a few bandits Sarutobi." Tsunade answered shortly.

"So, what exactly is Naruto capable of, Tsunade?"

"Dunoo . . . haven't sparred with him for a while. Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"I think that his Sensei would be more adequate to answer this question Tsunade, and you have been training him, haven't you?"

"Nah . . . the brat trains on his own; I only give him some advice when he asks for it. But I can tell you about Sakiko if you want." Tsunade smirked.

"I'm sure that Sakiko is doing just fine under your tutelage. I'm just glad that she is a part of a family now." Sarutobi said, playing the emotional card now.

"Yes, too bad the council gave Sasuke control over the Uchiha clan at such a young age." Tsunade countered.

Sarutobi winced inwardly. That was a decision that he was regretting to this day. The arrogance of the boy was astounding, and he thought that the boy was delusional. Any demands that he made of the council were lapped up by them.

Things continued in the same manner for a few minutes, and Sarutobi was growing increasingly tired of the half-answers that Tsunade was providing him with.

"Tsunade, I realize that what I did was unforgiveable, but you must realize that I, too, care for Naruto."

"You have a pretty funny way of showing it, Sarutobi"

Sarutobi sighed. Tsunade was as headstrong and stubborn as he remembered. He knew that he wouldn't get any answers out of her today.

"Very well, thank you for your time, Tsunade."

Tsunade simply got up, and walked towards the office doors. Just as she was about to open them she heard a soft and tired voice coming from her Sensei.

"Does he . . . hate me?"

Tsunade pondered if she should answer him honestly or not. A vindictive part of her wanted to tell him that Naruto did hate him, but she quashed down her impulses. She knew Naruto cared deeply for the Hokage, even if he didn't show it anymore, and it would further strain their relationship. Naruto would be unhappy, and that was something that she simply couldn't accept. She cared for him as his mother, and couldn't bear to see him sad.

" . . . No." Saying that Tsunade left , leaving Sarutobi lost in his thoughts, reminiscing about the happier times that he shared with Naruto.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I'm sorry." Sarutobi whispered to himself.

(Break)

Miki was a relatively young summon creature. Born just about 20 years ago, she had just finished her apprenticeship in the Summon Clan's form of combat, and couldn't wait to begin her duties. She was surprised however to find out that for her first mission, she had to venture into the Human realm, and her mission was to report any unusual activities at the place that she was supposed to watch over.

She could honestly say that it was the most boring mission that she had ever thought of. The island was uninhabited, and the only thing that kept her company were the animals that were there in the forest. But even then, she couldn't exactly play with them. They would flee, as soon as she would show herself.

Being a dragon has that effect on others after all.

The Dragon Clan was a very unique type of Summons. While they were a very powerful Clan, on par with the Toads, Slugs and Salamander Clan, they had a very unique ability. Each and every Dragon had a human form that they could shift into, and they preferred it over their battle form.

After a week of boredom, she had immediately went to her father to complain, who quite conveniently, happened to be the Elder of the Dragon Summons. She had ranted for about half an hour of how boring her mission was, and how she had nothing to do, and how nothing interesting had happened all week.

Her father had then sat her down, and explained the significance of the mission that was handed to her. She listened with rapt attention as her father told her of the Dragon clan's allegiance to the Uzumaki Clan. She was amazed to hear that the Uzumaki clan had kept their existence a secret from the rest of the world, even though they were on the brink of extinction, the Clan Head had strictly ordered the Dragons not to interfere.

Miki had asked her father why that was, but seeing the pained and sorrowful look on her father's face she had relented. The dragons had, ever since the destruction of Uzushiogakure watched over the lands, bringing the various scrolls and artefacts that had survived the assault on Uzushiogakure with then, for safekeeping.

This had confused Miki. Why watch over the lands if there was nothing to protect? She had asked her father this very question and her father had fixed her with a piercing gaze. She had held her gaze with her father's for a long time, determined to understand their clan's history.

She would never forget her father's next words.

"_As the whirling comes to a standstill, _

_The royal blood awakens,_

_Blessed with power unknown,_

_The founder's blade will find its master,_

_Riddled with strife, he will come . . ._

_And the world shall be shaped to his whims."_

A Prophecy. That was the reason that the Dragon Clan continued their vigilant watch over the Ruins of Uzushiogakure. Waiting . . .

Miki had then realized the significance of the responsibility that had been put over her. She hadn't ever complained since. Bandits came and went, but she still didn't interfere. They were of no consequence.

And today, she finally had something to report. She walked purposefully towards the Elder's house.

"Touda-sama, there is something that you should know."

(Break)

"Very good. We will proceed with the mission." Yugao said, and Team 11 again started on their way.

Naruto's clone, was walking behind the client, with Yugao at his side. Glancing at Mei and Sakiko, he immediately noticed that they were tense and it was only because he knew then so well that he could discern that they were worried.

He walked over to them, and gently placed his hands over their shoulders, noticing that they jumped up slightly at the contact.

"Don't worry Mei-chan, Sakiko-chan. I'm sure that Boss will make it to Wave in time. Besides, Yugao-chan, who is an excellent Kenjutsu Master, you both are no slouches either. I was really impressed by the way that you took down the Chunins, I'm sure you both are more than capable of handling yourselves on this mission." Naruto said gently. He squeezed their shoulders slightly, offering whatever comfort he could_. 'I just hope Yami doesn't start acting up again.'_

Both Mei and Sakiko visibly brightened at Naruto's words, and smiling slightly nodded their thanks. Even if Naruto's clone didn't have the soothing, calming presence that Naruto did, they knew that he would never lie to them.

They continued on towards Wave, unaware of the thoughts that were running through the Clone's head.

(Chapter End)

A/N:- So. . . how was it?

Regarding Naruto's mask, it is the same as Ichigo's final hollow mask just there is a color change and the absence of horns. Yami's character will be explained . . . . and the main characters for the Dragon Summons are from a different Anime, I invite you to guess which one . . .

Review your guesses.


End file.
